TORONTO — John Tavares scored his 501st career goal in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Utah Mammoth 5-3 on Wednesday.
Matthias Maccelli had a goal and an assist against his former team, and William Nylander and Auston Matthews provided the rest of Toronto's (8-5-1) offense before Matthew Nice scored the empty net.
Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves. Jake McCabe had two assists. Tavares and Nylander each added two-point assists in the Leafs' third straight win.
Michael Carcone, Mikhail Sergachev and Dylan Guenther responded for Utah (9-5-0), which was playing for the second straight after a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday. Vitek Vanecek stopped 14 shots.
Mammoth led 1-0 after the first period before the Leafs, who erased a three-goal third-period deficit Monday to secure an unlikely 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins after a terrible first 40 minutes, responded with goals from Nylander and Matthews in the second.
Sergachev then tied the game late in the period before Tavares scored the go-ahead goal in the third and Maccelli added some insurance.
Tavares was honored before the first faceoff, becoming the 49th player in NHL history to score 500 regular-season goals last week.
TAKE AWAY
Leafs: Simon Benoit missed the game with an illness, joining fellow defenseman Chris Tanev (upper body injury) on the sidelines. Dakota Mermis took Benoit's place in the lineup.
Mammoth: Carcone's first goal marked the ninth time Utah has opened the scoring this season, tied for the most in the NHL.
KEY POINT
Tavares made it 2-2 midway through the third when he headed home Vanecek for his seventh goal of the campaign.
KEY STATISTICS
Matthews scored his 225th career home goal, tying Dave Keon for second most in Leafs history. The record holder is Darryl Sittler – 231.
NEXT
Leafs: Host the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
Mammoth: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025.
