Four tips from Leafs-Mammoth: Maccelli’s revenge play propels the team to victory

The Mammoth were one of the better teams to start the 2025-26 season, entering Wednesday’s game having won eight of their last 10 games. Before anyone took the ice, the game began with a ceremony honoring John Tavares for his 500th goal in the NHL, an honor he received in the form of a gold cane in the presence of his wife, parents and three children.

The first period was relatively even, with both teams trading chances and Utah beating Toronto 8-5. Utah would come out of the period with a 1-0 lead after a defensive breakdown led to former Toronto Marlie Michael Carcone crashing the net on a tap-in past Anthony Stolarz.

The second period, which has been a consistent weakness for the Maple Leafs this season, was more of a reflection of last season when it was a strength of theirs. William Nylander opened the scoring after handling a bouncing puck in front of the Utah net during a delayed penalty, giving him his sixth goal of the season and his 20th of the season, tying him for second in the league with Mark Scheifele and Nathan MacKinnon.

Not long after, Matias Maccelli found Auston Matthews for a goal that can only raise hopes that things will look up for the Maple Leafs captain.

Utah tied the game on a goal that Anthony Stolarz would probably like to get back before the second period ended, with Mikhail Sergachev firing a low-velocity point shot through traffic that beat the Leafs’ five-hole netminder.

The second period ended ugly, with Nylander taking a puck to the ear and Tavares taking a sting after colliding with Matthew Knies, but the ending would not be indicative of the rest of the game. The Leafs came out strong in the third period and John Tavares fittingly scored the 501st goal of his career to take the lead.

After that goal came the most important moment of the evening: a revenge goal for Matias Maccelli.

An empty-net goal from Knies would seal the deal, and apart from an unfortunate goal in the final two minutes for Dylan Guenther, the match ended on a high note, with Maccelli earning the belt for the performance of the game, voted on by the players.

Here are four takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 5-3 win over Mammoth.

Matias Maccelli has a much-needed revenge game

Matias Maccelli was scratched for the first time this season on Monday night, a move backed by the support of head coach Craig Berube despite coming out of the lineup.

Maccelli responded with a two-point performance, setting up Matthews for a beauty in the second period and eventually scoring the game-winner, giving him seven points in 13 games on the season.

“Great team victory,” said Maccelli after the match. “Personally, it felt even better to do it against my old team, and it also feels really good to get the game winner.”

The season started off up and down for Maccelli, but you could see the potential in his game all the way. Skating on a line with Nic Roy and Dakota Joshua certainly helps too, as he played with him in the preseason before Scott Laughton’s injury forced the lines into a blender. Now that the Maple Leafs’ forward corps is fully healthy, they have a chance to rediscover the chemistry they built in the preseason. It was a good effort from everyone, and for Maccelli it was just a little sweeter.

Auston Matthews’ shot could be back

Auston Matthews has scored three goals in his last three games, giving him eight goals in fourteen games on the season. He’d be the first to tell you his start to the season wasn’t good enough, so the signs of late have been inspiring, and not just because of what he’s doing on the scoresheet. It’s the way the goals come in.

Matthews’ main threat as a forward is his shot, and while he has the hockey IQ and the hands to score 30 without his main weapon, he’s not nearly as dangerous as he is when he’s a constant threat to find the back of the net. His goal against the Flyers was a bull’s-eye from the top of the circle. He scored a breakout goal against the Penguins on Monday, and his goal tonight was a rocket of a one-timer on a Maccelli sweet dish. These are the kind of goals we see from him when he’s healthy and confident.

“I thought we competed really well, even after one period we were going backwards,” Matthews told reporters. “I thought we did a lot of good things. I just felt like we had a good rhythm tonight, a lot of good flow. All four lines played hard, competed, created chances, defended well, it’s good to get those two points.”

When Matthews has power on his shot and he is aggressive with it, he is a very different player and one that gives the Maple Leafs a very different perception as a team this season.

John Tavares continues to provide the Maple Leafs with excellent value

Who could have predicted that John Tavares would produce at his highest level since his first season with the team after rejoining the Maple Leafs for a third of what he got on his last contract? Maybe this kind of point-producing pace won’t last all season, but the Maple Leafs got two points out of Tavares on Wednesday night, and at 35 years old and making just over $4 million a year, he has seven goals and 18 points in 14 games so far this season.

After the game, Tavares talked about how special it was to have his family present at the ceremony.

“They’ve been along on the journey, you know, my parents from the beginning and now my wife and my kids, so it’s great to share with them,” Tavares said. “They are my biggest supporters and have sacrificed a lot so that I can do what I do. I’m really happy to have been able to share that with them, and even better to follow it up with a big effort and a big win today to continue the momentum.”

With Nylander’s promotion to the top line, Tavares has found a recent groove with Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann on his wings. It’s a good combination for Robertson, who wants to cement a permanent spot on the roster, and McMann, who is getting better rebounds after a slump of late.

Morgan Rielly needs to be better in his own zone

I’m burying this one at the bottom because it was a solid team win overall, and he made up for his blunder somewhat with an assist on Maccelli’s winning goal. But it was a rough start for Morgan Rielly on his own end. On Utah’s first goal of the game, he collapsed on the puck carrier despite the fact that Brandon Carlo had already covered him, leaving Carcone wide open in front of the net for the first goal of the game.

Rielly has shown much more promise at the back from an attacking perspective, with ten points in thirteen games so far, but he needs to clean up mistakes like this, especially now that, at full health, he has a consistent and reliable partner in Carlo. Many of Rielly’s previous defensive shortcomings can be attributed to the fact that he was always paired with the odd man out, but the team resolved that problem at last season’s deadline. He’s always going to make mistakes like that from time to time, and if that’s the case, he’ll have to at least continue to produce like he is on offense.

The Maple Leafs have the day off on Thursday before hosting the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

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