The Toronto Maple Leafs aim to carry the momentum of a four-goal third period in a comeback win into Wednesday night, when they host the rising Utah Mammoth.

The Maple Leafs trailed the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 after two periods on Monday before erupting with four goals — two by William Nylander — to open a four-game homestand with a 4-3 victory.

“Played terrible for two periods,” said Nylander, who missed three of the previous four games with a lower-body injury. “It’s unacceptable. There’s nothing more to say. Our compete level was not there, losing every battle, losing every puck. It’s what it comes down to.”

Toronto coach Craig Berube said, “I don’t have an answer for that right now. The second period, they got the puck and did whatever they wanted with it, and we didn’t check anybody.

“We didn’t knock anybody off the puck, and when we did get it, we gave it back, and they just kept coming back down our throats. It’s not good enough.”

Despite the tough opening two periods Monday, the Maple Leafs have won two straight.

Utah started a four-game road trip on Tuesday with a 2-1 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres. The Mammoth had lost back-to-back games after winning seven straight.

“We learned a lot tonight,” said Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who stopped 17 shots at Buffalo. “It was a big battle for us. It wasn’t an easy game at all. We just need to keep building on it. … After two losses, we just needed to bounce back and just get another win, especially on the road.”

Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist for Utah, scoring the game-winner 47 seconds into overtime.

The Maple Leafs will get reinforcements on Wednesday. Scott Laughton, who sustained a foot injury after blocking a shot during a preseason game, is expected to make his season debut. Steven Lorentz, who sustained an upper-body injury Oct. 29 in a road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, also is likely to return.

“They bring this energy, they play a straightforward, simple game,” Berube said. “They do a lot of the dirty work for us out there. When it’s not going right, these guys can go change the momentum of a game. Our locker room really misses (Laughton). He’s a really good glue guy.”

Laughton and Lorentz worked on a line with Max Domi at practice Tuesday and also were paired as penalty killers.

They worked well together on a line during the preseason.

“I think we were pretty dominant together,” Lorentz said. “It’s been a long time coming, and it sucks when you get hurt right off the start of the season like he did. He’s a guy that brings energy. Our team has been missing that at times throughout the start of the season.”

Based on how they played at Buffalo, the Mammoth figure to be energized on Wednesday despite playing the second half of a back-to-back set.

“Heck of a game from everybody,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “Our four lines, our six (defensemen), our goalie were really good. I think there’s a lot of stuff we were talking about lately, our gap, our reloading, our poise with the puck, our battles down low, our possession in the O-zone, making good plays, going to the net. Really proud of the way the boys played.”

–Field Level Media

Wyatt Johnston got the shootout winner and had three assists to give the host Dallas Stars a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

Mikko Rantanen scored twice to eclipse 300 career goals and had an assist, and Miro Heiskanen also scored for the Stars, who stretched their points streak to seven games (4-0-3). Casey DeSmith stopped 23 shots. Jason Robertson chipped in the Stars’ other shootout goal.

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist and Vasily Podkolzin and Leon Draisaitl got the other regulation goals for the Oilers, who blew a 2-0 lead and lost for the second straight night. Jack Roslovic had two assists and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves. Draisaitl scored in the shootout.

Rantanen’s power-play goal 9:10 into the second period made it 2-1. He poked in a backhand shot while falling during a goal-mouth scramble for the 300th goal of his career, becoming the fourth player from Finland to reach that mark. He joins Jari Kurri, Teemu Selanne and Olli Jokinen.

Golden Knights 1, Red Wings 0

Akira Schmid made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season, leading Vegas to a victory over Detroit in Las Vegas.

Ivan Barbashev scored the game’s lone goal for the Golden Knights, who won for just the second time in their past five games (2-2-1). It was the second career shutout for Schmid, who improved to 6-1-0 on the season.

John Gibson stopped 33 of 34 shots for the Red Wings, who finished 3-2-0 on their road trip.

Hurricanes 3, Rangers 0

Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves in an impressive season debut and Carolina earned a victory over New York, which remained winless on home ice.

Kochetkov returned from missing the first month with a lower-body injury, posting his 11th career shutout and Carolina’s first this season. Nikolaj Ehlers scored a power-play goal with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first for his first goal with the Hurricanes. Seth Walker scored late in the second after setting up Ehlers’ goal. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal with 1:39 left by finishing off a breakaway.

The Rangers dropped to 0-5-1 at home, breaking the 1943-44 team record for the longest home skid to start a season. New York saw a three-game win streak stopped and was blanked for the fourth time on home ice this season. Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots but was beaten on a pair of screened shots late in the first two periods.

Flyers 5, Canadiens 4 (SO)

Trevor Zegras scored in the first round of the shootout to lift visiting Philadelphia over Montreal.

Zegras, who notched two assists in regulation, took his time before wiring his shootout attempt between the pads of Sam Montembeault. Nikita Grebenkin scored his first career NHL goal midway into the third period and Dan Vladar made 16 saves for the Flyers, who scored three goals in the opening eight minutes of a game for the first time since Nov. 2, 2011.

Montreal’s Kirby Dach scored two goals, Nick Suzuki added a goal to extend his career-high point streak to 12 games and Ivan Demidov also tallied. Montembeault yielded three goals on the first five shots he faced before finishing with 38 saves.

Islanders 4, Bruins 3 (SO)

Marat Khusnutdinov tied the game late in the third period and collected the only goal in the shootout for visiting Boston to defeat New York.

Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha also scored for the Bruins, who have won four straight and five of six (5-1-0). Goalie Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves before stopping all three New York attempts in the shootout.

Bo Horvat had two goals and Anthony Duclair also scored for the Islanders, who had their two-game winning streak snapped and lost for the fourth time in six games (2-2-2). Goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded 24 saves in regulation and overtime, including a point-blank stop of Charlie McAvoy in the final 20 seconds of the extra session.

Mammoth 2, Sabres 1 (OT)

Clayton Keller’s game-winner 47 seconds into overtime lifted Utah past host Buffalo.

Keller finished with two points as he recorded the primary assist on Nick Schmaltz’s third-period goal. John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev notched assists as Utah erased a two-game skid. Karel Vejmelka made 17 saves for Utah, and he also got the secondary assist on Keller’s goal after his save on an Alex Tuch shot set up the counterattack.

The Sabres have played in five straight overtime games, winning just once in that run. Noah Ostlund scored his first career goal just hours after Buffalo recalled the 21-year-old center from the AHL. Isak Rosen got an assist in his second game this season. Alex Lyon stopped 33 shots as he lost in overtime for the third straight game.

Wild 3, Predators 2 (OT)

Marcus Johansson scored the winning goal to lift Minnesota to an overtime win over Nashville.

Kirill Kaprizov and Zeev Buium also scored for Minnesota, which won back-to-back games for the first time this season. Brock Faber had two assists and blocked a team-high six shots. Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 32 shots to improve to 4-6-1 on the season.

Matthew Wood and Steven Stamkos scored for Nashville, which earned one point in the standings with a last-second goal that sent the game to overtime. Predators goaltender Justus Annunen turned aside 22 shots.

Kings 3, Jets 0

Adrian Kempe scored the eventual game-winner and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves as Los Angeles blanked visiting Winnipeg.

Kevin Fiala and Drew Doughty also scored for the Kings, who snapped a two-game skid (0-1-1) and won for the first time on home ice (1-3-2). The shutout was Kuemper’s first of the season.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots as Winnipeg saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. The loss was the first on the road this season for the Jets (4-1-0).

Avalanche 3, Lightning 2

Victor Olofsson scored twice, Ross Colton also had a goal and Colorado beat Tampa Bay in Denver to end the visitors’ five-game winning streak.

Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves for Colorado, which survived a furious surge at the end of the third period to improve to 3-0-2 in the past five games. The Lightning pulled goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for an extra skater and spent most of the final three minutes in the Avalanche zone. Wedgewood stopped one shot and was aided by his defense blocking several attempts.

Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored and Vasilevskiy turned aside 30 shots for Tampa Bay, which took its first loss since Oct. 23.

Ducks 7, Panthers 3

Cutter Gauthier recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist as host Anaheim claimed its fourth consecutive victory, trouncing Florida.

Nikita Nesterenko collected one goal and one assist for the Ducks, while Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider and Jansen Harkins all scored once. Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry both collected two assists. Goaltender Lukas Dostal made 18 saves for Anaheim, which has won six of seven outings, defeating Florida twice in that span.

Evan Rodrigues scored once and added an assist for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who have one win in six road games. Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen also tallied. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots.

–Field Level Media

Adrian Kempe scored the eventual game-winner and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves as the Los Angeles Kings blanked the visiting Winnipeg Jets 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Kevin Fiala and Drew Doughty also scored for the Kings, who snapped a two-game skid (0-1-1) and won for the first time on home ice (1-3-2).

The shutout was Kuemper’s first of the season and first against the Jets in his career.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots as Winnipeg saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. The loss was the first on the road this season for the Jets (4-1-0).

Fiala doubled the Kings’ lead at 15:00 of the third on a power play, ripping a shot high glove-side past Hellebuyck for his sixth of the season.

Doughty added an empty-netter with 54 seconds remaining – his 162nd career goal – the most amongst defensemen in Kings history.

Kempe opened the scoring at 17:09 of the first period, one-timing a Joel Armia pass past Hellebuyck for his sixth of the season.

Winnipeg thought it had opened the scoring at 8:23 of the first as Josh Morrissey’s point shot got past Kuemper, but officials on the ice indicated there was goaltender interference on the play. The Jets unsuccessfully challenged to have the call overturned.

Adam Lowry made his season debut after missing the first 12 games recovering from offseason hip surgery. The Jets captain had 14:08 of ice time. Lowry took the spot of Morgan Barron, who is out week-to-week with an injury sustained in Winnipeg’s 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 1.

Armia played in career game No. 600 while veteran Kings forward Corey Perry became the fourth active player to appear in 1,400 games.

Tuesday was the second of three meetings. Winnipeg edged Los Angeles 3-2 on Oct. 11. The Kings and Jets wrap up the season series Jan. 9 in Winnipeg.

–Field Level Media

Akira Schmid made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Ivan Barbashev scored the game’s lone goal for Vegas, which won for just the second time in its last five games (2-2-1).

It was the second career shutout for Schmid, who improved to 6-1-0. The first came with New Jersey in February 2023, a 7-0 blanking of the Philadelphia Flyers.

John Gibson stopped 33 of 34 shots for Detroit, which finished 3-2-0 on its five-game road trip.

Scoring chances were few and far between during a tight-checking scoreless first 25 minutes. Detroit then had a chance to take the lead on a Lucas Raymond snap shot from the slot but the puck grazed off the outside of the left post.

Gibson, who dropped to 6-19-5 in his career against the Golden Knights, came up with a big save midway through the period on Brandon Saad, who drove to net from the right wing but Gibson blocked his close-in wrist shot with left shoulder.

Vegas finally broke through to take a 1-0 lead at the 13:45 mark of the second when Barbashev, stationed in front of the crease, backhanded in a rebound of a Saad shot over Gibson’s right pad for his fourth goal.

The Golden Knights appeared to make it 2-0 with 4:54 to go in the game when Jeremy Lauzon fired in a wrist shot from the left circle off a Brett Howden drop back pass. However, Detroit coach Todd McLellan successfully challenged that Howden was offside entering the zone on the play and, after a lengthy review, the goal was taken off the scoreboard.

Detroit pulled Gibson for an extra attacker with two minutes to go but the Red Wings failed to garner a shot on goal.

–Field Level Media