SALT LAKE CITY — In the business, they call it a “scheduled loss,” and they’ll remind you that’s why they play 82.
They shrug and shower and smoothie.
They hop on a plane and focus on the next one.
“This is a flush game for me,” Craig Berube said, matter-of-factly.
The head coach was already at the acceptance stage of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ most lopsided loss since Game 7.
“They had a lot of energy, a lot of jump out there,” he added. “They were quicker than us tonight. And it showed.”
Hockey will humble you, boy.
Even if you see the letdown coming from a state away, like the snow-capped mountains acting like nature’s runway lights upon descent into Salt Lake City.
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One night, you’re king of the world, knocking off the first-place Colorado Avalanche in their own barn and dancing a mile up.
Less than 24 hours later, you’re stumbling around a basketball arena, getting boxed out and double-teamed and run off the court by a rested and ready Utah Mammoth squad dressing six good ol’ Ontario lads who can’t wait to shine on TV for the folks back home.
So, way up here in Utah, 4,226 feet above sea level, is where the Toronto Maple Leafs’ reinvigorating 10-game point streak runs dry.
A 6-1 impaling by the pointed tusks of the Mammoth.
Heck, the score would’ve been worse had the Leafs not benefitted from an extra power play and an early whistle on a loose puck that also got slammed behind under-siege backup Dennis Hildeby.
“I didn’t really like our game from the start,” said veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the only Leaf with a plus rating Tuesday. “They came out and had the puck a little bit more, and it was hard to defend them. So, we got to be better.”
The Leafs have an excuse they don’t wish to use: back-to-back 10 p.m. ET starts against legit opponents in high-altitude cities two time zones away from home.
This loss arrives in the wake of an emotional and high-octane thriller in Denver that required overtime and captain Auston Matthews to log a season-high 25:29.
This loss also precedes a full day and two nights off in Las Vegas, which, sources say, can be a fun town for the young and rich. (To be fair, the old and broke can find a way to have a time, too.)
“Can’t really use that as an excuse to not perform well,” Matthew Knies declared.
“You can throw all the excuses out there, but I know we’ve played back-to-backs before, too. So, it’s on us,” Matias Maccelli said. “Not good enough today.”
These are the correct answers by professional athletes.
If not an excuse, let’s call fatigue a contributing factor.
Because the heavy-footed Leafs got caved in worse than ignoring the state’s “Beware of Falling Rocks” signs.
Not only were the Leafs outshot 40-20, but they were also outchanced 43-18 at even-strength. The five-on-five high-danger chances were 23-9 in favour of the Mammoth.
Yikes.
Berube had framed the back-to-back as a mental challenge. The brain had to push the body, he figured. But even the strongest bodies succumb to the relentlessness of the Olympic-truncated schedule.
Morgan Rielly and William Nylander were each minus-4. John Tavares’s only shot went smack into Karel Vejmelka’s mitt on a breakaway. Matthews used all his juice the night prior.
Maccelli and Eason Cowan were the only Leafs forwards to register multiple shots on net.
“You don’t want to get too high, and you don’t want to get too low,” Knies said, ironically making this statement between the team’s most thrilling win and most decisive loss of 2026.
“We’re just going to try to stay consistent, stay levelheaded, and keep it going. But, yeah, there’s a lot of good energy in our locker, and we’re going to try to keep it that way.”
Outside of Hildeby, who was hard on himself after surrendering a touchdown, the veteran Leafs aren’t losing sleep over a scheduled L.
They know they weren’t their best selves.
“I talked to the guys. We need to rest up. We’re gonna have a tough game in Vegas,” Berube said, already turning the page. “We need to rest up here and get our legs under us for the next game.”
Ah, right. The Mitch Marner Bowl.
Higher stakes. Fresher legs.
“We’ve got to be better, and we have been playing some good hockey,” Ekman-Larsson said.
“It’s a big one Thursday.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Under heavy peer pressure to throw money on the board and getting the starting-lineup treatment, Maccelli returned to Utah as a top-six forward with top-unit power-play looks and a sunny mindset.
“My strength is with the puck and trying to make plays, so it helps when you play a little more and get more touches,” the ex-Utahn said. “I get to play with J.T. and Willy, so it makes my life a little easier.”
When Maccelli was scratched for three straight weeks in December, he tried using the time to work hard in practice and reset mentally.
“Then once I got back in, just gave it my everything,” he said.
Berube has noticed “a big difference” from the playmaker who struggled in October and November, while recognizing the risk of losing the investment of a player who gets benched that often.
“He’s playing with a lot more confidence, for sure. Hanging onto pucks and making a lot better plays,” Berube said. “And defensively, he’s been solid. I mean, he’s getting above. He’s being strong on the puck when he has to be, in battles and things like that. But it’s confidence that I see in him right now that I didn’t see earlier on.
“In talking to him, he wasn’t making excuses. He knew he had to be better, and he was waiting for an opportunity to be better.”
• Utah’s third line of Michael Carcone, Jack McBain and Dylan Guenther out-attempted (32-8), outshot (19-3), and outscored (4-0) the Leafs something awful. That trio combined for eight points.
“They were on top of us all night, pressuring us defencemen with forechecks, and obviously that Guenther has got an elite shot,” McCabe said. “You could see that on display tonight.”
• Nick Robertson, who blocked a shot Monday with the inside of his left leg, is listed as day-to-day and was replaced in Tuesday’s lineup by Calle Järnkrok, Toronto’s lone goal scorer Tuesday. Berube says the winger’s injury is not too serious.
• The red-hot Bobby McMann was promoted to Matthews’ top line to start, and Knies spent time on third-line duties.
Hey, Knies, just how speedy is McMann?
“It’s a little unfair, honestly, how fast he is. It’s crazy.”
• The Leafs will celebrate Darryl Sittler and the 50th anniversary of his record 10-point game on Jan. 27.
“Fifty years ago, I would have never imagined the magnitude of this moment or how many people would have special memories and stories connected to this game,” Sittler said. “It was a milestone in my career, but in talking to fans over the years, it’s even more incredible to hear that it impacted so many for so many years.”
Maple Leafs players will rock commemorative patches on their sweaters during the game. And for one night only, fans in the rink can gorge on an order of 10-10-10 Wings: 10 chicken wings seasoned with a 10-spice dry rub, served alongside an in-house 10-ingredient ranch sauce.
Sittler’s new record for ranch sauce ingredients is also believed to be unbreakable.
