Nothing really new here, just a caution that it might not be all that serious. The Leafs don't seem to think they need to rush players back.
About last night:
The Leafs came on pretty strong early, got the first power play, looked like they might be on a roll. There were jumping on pucks, denying zone entries and just generally being good.
Then they had to defend for a second:
Daniil But breaks the ice pic.twitter.com/wL1avoKi8p
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
Toronto with both the better power play and PK looked fine in this period aside from two defensive miscues from the two guys who aren't all that great defensively: Morgan Rielly on the goal and Darren Raddysh on the penalty he took after his own fubar play.
Unfortunately, the Leafs opened the second with a group effort of stupid:
Vincent Trocheck makes it 2-0 Utah pic.twitter.com/hUCqjNAo1R
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
The Leafs got a power play and... did something weird. They started PP2 with Rielly and Nick Blankenburg both. A lot went on in this sequence, including a moment when the whistle should have gone before the goal.
longer look at the Sergachev goal pic.twitter.com/SMTgygKM42
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
But that goal was erased by Auston Matthews getting it back on the rest of the power play.
Auston Matthews scores on the power play 🚨 pic.twitter.com/XqEbG39iSx
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
Down 3-0, just how the Leafs like it, I guess. They sure aren't boring.
The Mammoth got another one with five minutes to go in the period, and that sure seemed like the Leafs were cooked in this game. But no...
Jack Roslovic brings the Leafs within two 🚨 pic.twitter.com/qbe8JhozpL
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
That lasted for a very brief moment.
MacKenzie Weever
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
5-2 pic.twitter.com/N1l64DcMEN
The score was 5-2 after the second. The xG was (rounded off) 2-2. Not the very best night for team defence/Anthony Stolarz.
Is that glass half full or half empty? Because that's not at all a bad offensive performance for a road game while trailing.
In the third period, everything got weirder. The Leafs took some stupid penalties, John Tavares scored. Gavin McKenna scored, and Anthony Stolarz started making some saves.
GAVIN MCKENNA 🚨
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 14, 2026
ITS A ONE-GOAL GAME! pic.twitter.com/GxwGsvnrDZ
Rielly and Nylander both nearly had goals, and it's possible to imagine this game ending tied at two or five or 9-7 with some slightly different bounces.
Utah won 5-4. Just barely.
During all that, I was thinking about usage and holes in the roster.
The Leafs just spent two games playing 11-7, where injury meant it was 11-6, and the very low minutes played by Marshall Rifai last night made it nearly that again.
I don't think this was about defender injuries or fitness. I think the issue is that the Leafs don't really have 12 forwards that either add 5on5 value or play special teams well. They need better defenders, yes. They need some forwards. The Zack MacEwen experiment hasn't done anything for the team, and Bo Groulx is a placeholder. At this point, they should just play Miles Wood and see if there's anything there.
But that was a successful road trip even without a point in Utah.
Good parts of this game: they don't give up, the PK is looking better, they can bust a game open with their offence, and William Nylander is staking his claim to owning this team. Hiller put Gavin McKenna out with the last-minute power play where the Leafs had a chance to tie the game. This was the right call.
