The Maple Leafs are looking to snap a three-game losing slide in their first-ever visit to Utah for a matchup against the hanging-around-the-playoff-mix Utah Hockey Club (10 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario).
Game Day Quotes
Utah head coach André Tourigny on the challenge presented by the Maple Leafs:
It will be a good game. We want to be a little bit harder in our battles than we have been lately. We have to be disciplined against them — that will be really important.
You need to be disciplined and really detailed in how you play. They have elite players and guys who can break the game.
They’ve made good acquisitions in the last year. They are a good all-around team, but they also have game-breakers and you have to make sure you are really detailed when playing against those guys.
Alex Kerfoot on GM Bill Armstrong keeping the group together for a playoff push vs. selling at the deadline:
It gives us confidence. This is a spot the organization hasn’t been in for a number of years. We’re used to trading pieces away at the deadline. For us to still be in the hunt is the first goal, but the work is far from done. We have three teams ahead of us that we still have to catch and 20 games to play. It is kind of the first step, but we have a long way to go to get where we want to be.
Kerfoot on his old team attempting to break through again this spring:
I have a lot of respect for a lot of guys in that room. I think they have been a really good team for a long period of time. It is just a matter of time until they break through. When you kick at the door as many times as they have, you are going to find your way through at some point.
They are playing great hockey again this year, but at the end of the day, you have to get it done. It is tough. There are a bunch of teams that are adding in the East and the West. It is not like the Leafs are just going to go through and win. Other teams are good and have a say in the matter as well. Only one team can win, and it is a hard league.
Kerfoot on the reports about his friend Mitch Marner, and if it would be hard to picture him in another jersey other than the Leafs:
It is (hard to picture). He is from Toronto. He has been a big part of building what they have become. He is one of the best players in the league and a guy who leaves it all out there for the Leafs.
He is a huge part of the team. They need him around right now. I don’t know what is going to happen in the future; I don’t talk to him about that stuff at all, and it is for him to discuss.
He does it all. He competes all night. He plays both sides of the puck. He is an elite player in this league.
Kerfoot on the experience of playing in Utah this season:
There is some buzz around the team. I have never been a part of an expansion team like this, but it just feels like the city is really excited to have a hockey team. The fan base is continuing to grow with us.
There are a lot of people who weren’t super familiar with hockey, and it has been great to show them what hockey is all about and be able to grow from the grassroots. The organization has done a great job of getting out into the community and allowing us to grow the game from that level.
It is going to take time — we haven’t even been here for a year yet — but if we keep building and putting a good product on the ice, I think hockey is going to continue to grow here.
GM Bill Armstrong on extending Kerfoot to a new one-year contract:
He’s like the Swiss Army knife of the team. He can play left wing, center, right wing — first line to fourth line. That helps so much during the course of the year. There’s so many injuries in the NHL. You need a player that has that versatility. He’s just a total team player, and a very good leader. He doesn’t say a lot, but when he does say stuff, you listen.
Armstrong on offloading Shea Weber’s cap dollars and keeping his team together at the deadline:
We’re moving into a different era where we need flexibility with our current cap space. We’re getting into that next part of our journey where we’re ready to challenge for the playoffs.
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Utah Hockey Club:
They are competitive. I don’t think they are really giving up a whole lot, to be honest with you, when I watch them. They are playing good defense. They have some good skill over there. They can go. They’re a fast team.
Berube on the decision to start Joseph Woll tonight:
He has had a little bit of a break now and some practices. We’ll go back home against Florida, and Stolarz played there. There is some thought process with that. We have been rotating for a while. I don’t really see a reason to change it right now.
Scott Laughton on forming chemistry with his new linemates, including Max Domi:
It is going to take some time getting used to everything — your linemates, and so on — but I think we are going in a good direction right now. We continue to work at it and continue to talk.
I have known Max for a long time now. It is nice to be able to talk on the bench and be comfortable together… I love the way he sees the ice. He is always looking. He is a really smart player, and he has some bite to him. It is fun to play with. We’ll keep building our game together, and hopefully, we stay together and have some success.
We learned to skate together. He was three, and I was four. We were doing C-cuts and edges. We have known each other for quite some time. He would get called up to our Marlies team when I played there. It is nice to have that comfortability with someone.
Laughton on his critical review of his own play after the Colorado game:
I self-evaluate the game, and I don’t think I was good enough. I’ve got better. I can’t wait to show it.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (38-22-3) vs. Utah HC (28-25-10)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in three out of five offensive categories, but Utah holds the advantage in three out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#19 Calle Jarnkrok — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #24 Scott Laughton — #11 Max Domi
#29 Pontus Holmberg — #64 David Kampf — #18 Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit — #51 Philippe Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Nick Robertson
Injured (IR): Chris Tanev
Injured (LTIR): Jani Hakanpää, Max Pacioretty
Utah Hockey Club Projected Lines
Forwards
#9 Clayton Keller — #92 Logan Cooley — #8 Nick Schmaltz
#15 Alex Kerfoot — #27 Barrett Hayton — #11 Dylan Guenther
#67 Lawson Crouse — #22 Jack McBain — #91 Josh Doan
#53 Michael Carcone — #82 Kevin Stenlund — #38 Liam O’Brien
Defensemen
#98 Mikhail Sergachev — #6 John Marino
#2 Olli Maata — #50 Sean Durzi
#28 Ian Cole — #7 Michael Kesselring
Goaltenders
Starter: #70 Karel Vejmelka
#33 Jaxson Stauber
