The Toronto Maple Leafs task in the three weeks is to eliminate the negative differential of their record away from Scotiabank Arena, with a pair of lengthy road trips before the Olympic break. The Leafs had lost five games in a row on the road prior to their 2-1 overtime win in Philadelphia last week, and in the first of a four-game swing west of the Mississippi on Monday, Toronto accomplished what earlier in the season was unthinkable, beating the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Monday night, thanks to William Nylander’s 16th goal of the season at 3:59 of overtime.
Easton Cowan, Bobby McMann, and Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto, and Joseph Woll made 31 saves in his 11th victory of the season. The Avalanche, who were 19-0-2 at Ball Arena entering the evening, erased Cowan’s opening goal with tallies from Cale Makar and Martin Necas, but McMann tied the game early in the second on a breakaway. The two clubs exchanged opportunities, with Woll and rookie Trent Miner making some excellent stops, but midway through the third, Matthews gave the Leafs the lead on a wrist shot.
The lead lasted exactly 2:31, as Martin Necas deflected a Nathan MacKinnon feed past Woll to tie it, and Colorado had a chance to win late in regulation on the power play, but Toronto killed off a Matthews tripping penalty to earn a point. In overtime, MacKinnon nearly won it for the Avs with a shot that rang off the pole, but the Leafs prevailed late in the extra frame, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson set up Nylander for the game-winner.
Woll with the win is 11-4-2, with a 2.48 GAA, and .920 save %, and is 9-1-1 in his last 11 games, further establishing himself as the Leafs #1 goalie. Toronto will play in their second of back-to-back games in Salt Lake City against the Mammoth. Dennis Hildeby (4-5-4, 2.67 GAA, .916 save %) will get the start. Nick Robertson was injured blocking a shot in the first period and had to be helped off the ice, but according to David Alter of the Hockey News, the winger was seen in good spirits after the game. It is likely that veteran Calle Jarnkrok will step in on the fourth line, and that McMann will take Robertson’s spot on the third line with Nicolas Roy and Cowan.
In the rumor de jour category, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos pondered the possibility of the Leafs getting into the trade talks for Toronto native Dougie Hamilton, who is on the outs with New Jersey and who the Devils are looking to ship out. Hamilton has two years left on his current deal at a $9 million AAV and was acquired by Leafs GM Brad Treliving in Calgary in 2015 from Boston, who selected him with one of the two first-round picks sent by Toronto to the Bruins in the Phil Kessel deal.
The issue here is that a deal for Hamilton would likely require Toronto to put both winger Dakota Joshua and defenseman Chris Tanev on season-ending LTIR to clear cap space, and/or have the Devils retain salary to make the deal work, and New Jersey is likely going to expect to get something in return for the 32-year-old. Hamilton reportedly used his no-movement clause to block a move in the off-season to San Jose, but agent JP Barry has said he would expand his list of potential destinations.
The issue here is that Hamilton is not the defenseman who scored double figures in goals eight times. He is big and right-handed, but has never been good defensively, and injuries have decreased his mobility and effectiveness. Even if the Devils gave him up for next to nothing and retained 50% of his cap hit, this would not be a wise move for Toronto, and this speculation being floated out strikes me as a desperate ploy to include the Leafs in trade chatter that is far-fetched.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (23-15-7 – 53 POINTS)
at
UTAH MAMMOTH (20-22-4 – 48 POINTS)
JANUARY 13, 2026 ▪ 10:00 PM EST ▪ DELTA CENTER (SALT LAKE CITY, UT)
TV: TSN ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050
MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY vs. UTAH MAMMOTH
| All-Time Record: | 3-0-0 (3 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 1-0-0 (1 Game) |
| 2024-25: | 2-0-0 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | November 24, 2024 (Toronto 3 vs. Utah 2) |
| All-Time Record: | 3-0-0 (3 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 2-0-0 (2 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 1-0-0 (1 Game) |
| Last Road Win vs. Opponent: | March 10, 2025 (Toronto 4 at Utah 3 – SOW) |
MAPLE LEAFS / MAMMOTH – 2025-26 TEAM STATS
| TORONTO | UTAH | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.38 (5th) | 3.02 (19th) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 3.16 (22nd) | 2.83 (9th) |
| Power Play %: | 17.0 (23rd-T) | 15.7 (29th) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 84.9 (3rd) | 80.7 (11th) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 27.0 (22nd) | 28.2 (14th-T) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 31.2 (32nd) | 25.6 (5th) |
| Faceoff %: | 56.6 (1st) | 48.3 (23rd) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
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