The Utah Hockey Club will aim for their second straight win when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night.
Utah ended a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. This win came in the second game of their four-game road trip.
Dylan Guenther scored twice and assisted on another goal, while Clayton Keller recorded three assists. Utah succeeded on 3 out of 4 power-play opportunities.
Guenther said, “It’s huge for us, just for a confidence booster. Nice for us to get a few there.”
Nick Bjugstad, who scored another power-play goal for Utah, added, “It just came down to compete. I think that’s kind of the theme of the night. Good things happen when we work hard.”
The Maple Leafs also extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. They have won six of their last seven games.
Toronto will again be without their captain, Auston Matthews, who has an upper-body injury. Matthews skated before practice on Saturday and had spent five days in Germany recently for medical evaluation.
Matthews explained, “It kind of flared up a little bit in preseason and then it felt better and then it was just kind of getting worse, so I thought it was time to kind of take a step back and re-evaluate it and take it day-by-day.”
He also said it hadn’t gotten worse, but it wasn’t improving, so he decided to be cautious. Matthews might return next week, possibly on Wednesday when Toronto faces the Florida Panthers.
Toronto coach Craig Berube said, “He’s feeling a lot better, which is good. He skated (Saturday) and he will probably get on the ice again (Sunday).”
Matthews led the league with 69 goals last season and has scored five goals in 13 games this season.
William Nylander, who leads Toronto with 13 goals, said, “We’re missing him a lot out there, the leadership he brings and everything he can do on the ice.”
Toronto is also without forwards Matthew Knies, Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, and Max Pacioretty. Knies has an upper-body injury, while the others have lower-body issues.
The Maple Leafs have adjusted well to Berube’s focus on defense. Defenseman Morgan Rielly said, “As players, we feel it, and I think you can tell by watching that it’s a different kind of game than what we’ve played in the past. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but it has been good. I think we’re doing all right.”
For Utah, this will be their first back-to-back game of the season.
Goalie Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves in Saturday’s game and has started five consecutive games. He has allowed just two goals in his last two games.
Utah coach Andre Tourigny said, “He radiates confidence. We will surely talk about it (starting Vejmelka on Sunday). I don’t know if it’s the right move because it’s four (games) in six (days). Probably, the answer will be no, but we’ll see.”
Backup goalie Jaxson Stauber, who has not played in the NHL this season, was called up from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL this week. Goaltender Connor Ingram, who has an upper-body injury, is out.
