Toronto has its own missing pieces. Our recap of the Leafs' last game described a lineup without several regulars, and they still beat the Canucks 4-2 at Rogers Arena. After a 1-1 1st period, Toronto won the 2nd 2-0 and kept Vancouver to 2 goals. Winning on the road with a patched-up roster says something about the structure, even if the Canucks at 3-12-1 aren't much of a measuring stick.
Utah can score. Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley shared the team lead with 7 goals apiece heading into the Philadelphia game, and 5 of Schmaltz's came on the power play. That gives a Toronto team short on bodies a reason to stay out of the box. The flip side is the alternating results. Going 2-3 over the last 5 hasn't been a slump so much as a team that can't string 2 good nights together.
The matchup is easy enough to see. Utah's forwards, led by Cooley and Schmaltz on the power play, against a Leafs team that just showed it can defend without its full lineup. If the Mammoth's short-handed defense gives up another big 2nd period the way it did in Philadelphia, the road trip ends the same way it did there. If Utah's top 6 controls the puck and keeps it away from its own patchwork pairs, 9-6-0 Utah is good enough to steal 2 points in Toronto.
