William Nylander had a goal and an assist, and Joseph Woll made 24 saves for the Maple Leafs (13-6-2), who are 7-1-0 in their past eight games, each of which has been played without captain Auston Matthews, who is out with an upper-body injury.
“There’s guys in and out throughout the course of seasons in different years,” Tavares said. “Auston has missed a little bit of time before, but it’s just believing in the group and the identity we are trying to build, the type of game we are trying to play, the depth we have, and everyone is a part of it. Don’t get me wrong, we want him back as soon as possible, but good job by everyone just continuing to go to work to build and get better and earn results.”
Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist for Utah (8-10-3), which was coming off a 6-1 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday but is 1-4-0 in its past five games. Karel Vejmelka, who made 27 saves in the win against Pittsburgh, allowed three goals on 35 shots.
“First back-to-back of the season," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. "The boys fought hard, they deserve credit for that, but we need to learn to manage the game better, learn to make sure we have short shifts, especially on back-to-backs, and play the right way."
Cooley put Utah ahead 1-0 at 17:48 of the first period when Dylan Guenther's one-timer from the left circle deflected in off him at the right post for a power-play goal.
“We were flat in the first I thought, and you could tell off face-offs guys weren't jumping, not getting a pick, little things like that,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We didn’t play north right away in the first, we were kind of trying to go back and regroup too much. We just talked about it between periods, and they did a real good job of adjusting and played a great second period.”
Marner tied it 1-1 at 5:15 of the second period, beating Vejmelka glove side on a breakaway after receiving a stretch pass from Tavares, who was below his own goal line in the right corner.
“I saw John was able to go get it and turn up ice with his head up and free space in front of him,” Marner said. “I just tried to read what I had in front of me and there was a big gap there, so I just tried to find it and John made a great pass.”
Marner then gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 9:34. Fraser Minten's redirection attempt went wide of the net, but Marner got the puck below the goal line and immediately banked a shot in off Vejmelka’s pads.
The goal came on the second of four penalties Utah took in a 7:07 span.
“It’s a big issue. You get on the road you repeat the same mistakes, same guys, stick penalties. That’s tough,” Tourigny said. “Our game management, our game in the game, cost us a lot today, from bad changes to get in penalty trouble, it costs you at some point. We were playing a team that was playing well, who had won three in a row. They’re not easy to play against.”
