Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Utah Hockey Club – Game #21 Preview ...
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Utah holds the advantage in three out of five offensive categories and three out of five defensive categories.
Craig Berube on what he learned from the pre-scout of Utah’s 6-1 win over Pittsburgh last night:
The power play was good. They got three. They’re fast, and they have a lot of skill. They make a lot of plays — a lot of west-west plays — and get up the ice really well. Their D are involved.
We have to check well tonight. We have to stay out of the penalty box. Our PK is going to be important.
Overall, we need to take time and space away from this team right out of the offensive zone. Be hard on them breaking plays up. That will be very important tonight.
Berube on the decision to start Joseph Woll over Anthony Stolarz tonight:
[Woll] had a really good game against Vegas. We are just thinking ahead here. Stolly has played a lot. We have some time here. He is working in practice and doing a lot of good things.
That’s really it. We just talk about things and make decisions on what we think is best for the goalies and the team.
I talked earlier about how both goalies are going to see more net than they have in the past. It is important that we manage it to the best of our abilities.
Woll is coming off a real solid game against a real good team. We wanted to go back with him.
Berube on what improvements he is looking for from his team offensively after a week of practice:
Attacking more than we are. There are times when we tend to just control the play a little bit too much on the outside. We could attack more with more shots to the net, get pucks low to high, and do more on-and-off shooting while getting people to the net with numbers around there.
Resets to the back of the net, making quick plays out of there, doing things a little bit quicker, moving it quicker, supporting it quicker, and getting more pucks to the net than we are.
Berube on why Fraser Minten is so trustworthy despite his lack of experience:
It goes back to a great draft pick, finding a player who is so responsible at a young age. You guys aren’t on the bench, but just hearing him talk on the bench and how he sees the game, he says all the right things.
You don’t see young guys do that very often. He is already doing it at a very young age with very little experience. It is great to see. It’s refreshing. It really is.
Minten on the keys to success for his line with Nikita Grebenkin and Alex Nylander:
We just have to be simple with pucks and forecheck, using our speed to get pucks back on the forecheck. From there, let the skill make things happen. Those guys are really good when they get it back, so we have to make sure we are forechecking hard to retrieve pucks, and we’ll go from there.
Minten on the keys to success in the net-front role on the top power-play unit:
Try not to overcomplicate it too much. Get the goalie’s eyes, get in sight lines, try to get pucks back, get some tips, get some screens, and cause a little chaos. You can draw a defender with you. If you’re going backdoor, you give them a little more space. Be ready for anything coming to you. They are great players, so just try to read off of them, and hopefully, it goes well.
Minten on his experience level in front of the net on the power play:
In junior, I was mostly a flank guy with the puck more, but last year, I kind of got into it more at the end of the year, and I have been playing that role with the Marlies every game so far this year.
Minten on Morgan Rielly’s guidance at the NHL level:
He has been amazing. We have a lot in common, being from the same place. He took me under his wing a little bit and has been super nice. It makes it easy when you are coming in at 18 or 19 and there is a guy who comes to talk to you and is a really nice, supportive guy and friend. He has been awesome.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected LinesForwards #74 Bobby McMann — #91 John Tavares — #16 Mitch Marner #89 Nick Robertson— #29 Pontus Holmberg — #88 William Nylander #71 Nikita Grebenkin — #39 Fraser Minten — #92 Alex Nylander #46 Alex Steeves — #24 Connor Dewar — #18 Steven Lorentz
Defensemen #22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev #44 Morgan Rielly — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson #2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders Starter: #60 Joseph Woll #41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Jani Hakanpää, Philippe Myers Suspended: Ryan Reaves (four games remaining) Injured (IR): Auston Matthews, Max Domi, Matthew Knies Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Dakota Mermis, Max Pacioretty, David Kampf
Utah Hockey Club Projected LinesForwards #9 Clayton Keller — #27 Barrett Hayton — #8 Nick Schmaltz #22 Jack McBain — #92 Logan Cooley — #11 Dylan Guenther #63 Matias Maccelli — #17 Nick Bjugstad — #67 Lawson Course #15 Alex Kerfoot — #82 Kevin Stenlund — #53 Michael Carcone
Defensemen #98 Mikhail Sergachev — #2 Olli Maata #28 Ian Cole — #10 Maveric Lamoureux #7 Michael Kesselring — #41 Robert Bortuzzo
Goaltenders Starter: #70 Karel Vejmelka Jayson Stauber
Injured: Sean Durzi, John Marino, Connor Ingram
