\u201cBecause we want to win. I mean, we could have got five points. So, when you say, \u2018Are we good with three?\u2019 No, not really. If you would have said, \u2018Are you happy to (get) five?\u2019 I would have said, \u2018Absolutely.\u2019 It\u2019s just the way it works. Just got to get points. Could have made this a great trip. In the end, it\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maple Leafs were so disengaged and so sloppy last season that plenty of observers might see\u00a0OK\u00a0as the new\u00a0great.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s refreshing that Hiller\u2019s expectations remain high.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, heck, as a 2025-26 mid-season casualty \u2014 fired by the L.A. Kings with a pedestrian 24-21-14 record \u2014 Hiller knows well that OK doesn\u2019t cut it in a league flush with average.<\/p>\n
Speedy and opportunistic, the Mammoth jumped all over their visitors early, scoring five goals on 16 shots in two periods against Anthony Stolarz<\/a>, each one off the rush. All of them at even strength.<\/p>\n This is a team defence issue that picks at a scab from last season, when Chris Tanev (out with an undisclosed upper-body injury) was barely available and the goalies were asked to turn away high-danger looks on the regular.<\/p>\n Even coming into Salt Lake City on two days\u2019 rest and riding a mile high after doubling up the Avalanche, the Maple Leafs were slower out the gate, shooting themselves in the foot with leaky turnovers and a lack of discipline in the neutral zone.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a mental warfare out there every game. That\u2019s hockey. When you can have your lines connected like our lines have been so far, it makes it really tough,\u201d Utah coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you cannot get your head out of water. We keep them in deep water. We keep applying pressure, pressure\u2026 till it breaks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fourth-liner Daniil But set the tone by breaking Morgan Rielly<\/a>\u2019s gap, dancing him at the blue line and sniping short-side in the first period.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe made a good play. Obviously, that\u2019s on me,\u201d swallowed Rielly, a minus-2.<\/p>\n But it was Utah\u2019s four-goal second period that downed the Leafs.<\/p>\n Dylan Guenther beat Stolarz far side from distance, and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar stuffed a puck through his massive body with just 40 seconds remaining in the frame, off a D-zone draw no less.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI put us in a in a tough situation. Probably want two or three of those goals back,\u201d Stolarz said, pointing the finger at himself. \u201cI know I’ve got better and will be better in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019ll also need help from some irresponsible forwards and mismatched defence pairings.<\/p>\n \u201cThey scored five rush goals, right? So, that\u2019s not just Anthony. That\u2019s different people making mistakes prior to getting to him. Yeah, there’s probably a couple he wants back, but that happens,\u201d said Hiller in his most critical post-game presser to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSecond period, no good. That\u2019s three second periods on this trip that were no good.\u201d<\/p>\n The long change in Period 2 requires smart, connected line changes. Speed helps.<\/p>\n The Maple Leafs \u2014 though blessed with impactful special teams, elite game-breakers, and some impressive resilience \u2014 generally appeared the slower and less organized side against Vegas, Colorado, and Utah.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re a fast team. They have a lot of offensive skill players who can make plays, and they got a couple guys that can shoot the puck,\u201d Stolarz said. \u201cIt\u2019s your job as a goalie to make a timely save, and that was something that I really didn\u2019t do until the third period, and just kind of put us in a deep hole.\u201d<\/p>\n Comeback wins are a blast. They thrill and bond and make for great quotes. But they are not a sustainable recipe for success, as Toronto\u2019s two-goal third period effort proved on this night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe pushed a little bit harder, played with some urgency,\u201d Jack Roslovic said. \u201cBut we have to manufacture that urgency when it\u2019s 0-0 as well. So, it\u2019s good to see fight back. But at the same time, manufacturing that from the get-go is going to be important.\u201d<\/p>\n Stolarz vowed to study the film. Roslovic promised the skaters would clean up the \u201clittle mishaps\u201d that cost them three points. And Rielly knows there is another level to reach after a .500 roadie.<\/p>\n The glass is half full. The glass is half empty.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d Rielly said of the trip. \u201cBut we leave here not feeling great about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Operating in a barn built for the Jazz, the Mammoth must have the steepest seating in the league, creating intensity with fans hollering right on top of the players.<\/p>\n The Delta Center\u2019s upper-north end zone was redesigned over the summer with new terrace-style seating that offers a nearly vertical view, and more than 1,500 full-view seats were added for hockey games. Owner Ryan Smith\u2019s grand plan is to upgrade nearly every seat in the rink.\u00a0<\/p>\n Already looks better \u2014 and sounds louder.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying in that rink is truly special. I feel like every game has been sold out, if not close to it,\u201d Logan Cooley says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur fans are super passionate, super supportive. They all just love being at the games and having fun. You see the jumbotron; they\u2019re always laughing, giggling, just having a great time. That what we enjoy \u2014 trying to make people\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 For all their defensive question marks, the Maple Leafs just shutout the NHL\u2019s second-best power-play and now own the No. 1 penalty kill in the league (95.8 per cent).<\/p>\n \u201cIt always starts with the goaltenders,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cOur goalies have been really sharp there, but we\u2019ve had guys blocking shots, winning faceoffs. The D have done a nice job not giving up a lot of little rebounds or plays in tight. They\u2019ve had some looks from outside, but none of those little tap-ins, cross-creasers. But that\u2019s a collective effort.\u201d<\/p>\n Starting with PK coach John Gruden and GM John Chayka, who added all four of Toronto\u2019s most-used forwards on the PK: Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime and Nick Paul.<\/p>\n \u2022 Despite Gavin McKenna\u2019s contributions to a top power-play unit that struck twice in Denver and helped the Leafs swipe a win, new dad (again<\/a>) John Tavares<\/a> resumed his usual spot in Utah. He sniped a power-play beauty and set up Matthews for a man-advantage strike.<\/p>\n \u201cGavin did a good job. And just like other situations in the game, Gavin will get put in and then pulled back a little bit,\u201d Hiller explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about John Tavares. It\u2019s a pretty easy decision to get John back in there. He\u2019s had a great career. Still a great goal scorer. So, that wasn\u2019t a hard one at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 The Leafs jetted to a resort in picturesque Park City following\u00a0Saturday\u2019s big win in Colorado<\/a>\u00a0and enjoyed a full Sunday off in the wilderness. Some guys just relaxed and watched football, but 15 or so players went on a flyfishing excursion, snagging (and releasing) brook trout and whitefish.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNot gonna say I caught the biggest fish, but I did catch the biggest fish \u2014 in my group,\u201d Darren Raddysh smiles. \u201cIt was a whitefish. I think Colt had one as well. It was fun. Never did that before.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just like throw (your line) up the river, let it flow down, and go back. It was kinda different. It was cool. A little bit different fishing than in Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Paul spoke to inspiration for his charity initiative, which will see him donate $150 in support of youth mental health for every point he registers (already $600 and counting this season).<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was younger, I had a friend (Lucas, Grade 9) take his life by suicide, and it stuck with me and impacted me. And I knew if I was ever going to be able to have a voice and do something to help that cause, it\u2019s something I want to do. So, I started Points by Paul. I\u2019ve been doing it for a long time now and just bringing it here with Toronto and joined\u00a0Jack.org<\/a>. So excited for this year,\u201d said Paul, who believes teammates need to support each other off the ice.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s got each other\u2019s back. I think it\u2019s a really tight group. We all have one goal in mind, and that\u2019s winning and continuously getting better every single day. And I think we’re just a room where if you’re going through something or if you\u2019re struggling, there’s guys here to pick you up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 Three points against three of the best in the West. Surely, that should constitute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":932479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-932478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/932479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"32](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791965050_778_32-Thoughts-podcast-Elliotte-Friedman-Kyle-Bukauskas-640x360.jpg\")
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n