Toronto Maple Leafs vs Utah Hockey Club Live Stream Online
🔊Will the “Maple Leafs” continue their winning streak? Toronto has dropped points in only one of the last seven games and is firmly established among the leaders of the East. The club could potentially take sole leadership of the conference standings in the near future. Utah, on the other hand, is starting to fall behind the playoff zone in the West, but is desperately clinging to even minimal chances.
Head-to-head
Utah is a debutant in the NHL, so the clubs have not met each other before.
Toronto
The “Maple Leafs” are traditionally taking the lead in the East. However, this season their numerous victories are colored differently. With Craig Berube taking over as head coach, the team has stopped rushing into attack at every opportunity. The priority is now on defense. Often, Toronto achieves success with a minimal advantage. This is how the club defeated Detroit (3:1), Montreal (4:1), and Vegas (3:0). However, if necessary, the Canadian team easily engages in goal-scoring shootouts and emerges victorious. They have learned to control the tempo of the game and their emotions here.
Utah
The NHL newcomer is positioned in the standings exactly where most hockey fans expected to see them – very close to the playoff zone but outside the Western playoff eight. In the last five matches, Andre Tourigny’s team lost to Vegas (2:4), Washington (2:6), and Boston (0:1), but unexpectedly confidently defeated one of the Eastern leaders, Carolina (4:1), and Pittsburgh (6:1). Such results precisely underscore the tournament path of the team from Salt Lake City – victories come with great difficulty, but if the players manage to conduct several successful attacks and consolidate their advantage, they do not relinquish it.
Projected lineups
Toronto: Woll – Rielly, Ekman-Larsson – Marner, Tavares, McCann
Utah: Vejmelka – Sergachev, Määtä – Keller, Hayton, Schmaltz
Goalkeepers
Toronto’s goaltender Joseph Woll now strictly shares playing time with his backup Anthony Stolarz. And to give credit to the American, he performs almost flawlessly in his matches on the ice. For instance, in the game against Vegas, he managed to keep his goal untouched.
Utah’s goaltender Karel Vejmelka has firmly established himself as the team’s first choice. He started in five consecutive games and maintained a save percentage of 96.4% three times. The numerous losses are certainly not due to him.
Editor’s prediction
Utah undoubtedly needs points and sometimes takes advantage of its minimal opportunities. However, the current opponent is too tough for them. The “Maple Leafs” have gained excellent momentum and are confidently heading towards leadership in the East. The Canadian team calmly and strategically wins most matches, acting with maximum composure and almost impeccable defense. We are unlikely to witness a blowout, but by the third period, the fate of this matchup will likely be decided. And Toronto will traditionally “dry out” the end of the game. Our key bet is total under 2.5 pucks in the third period
