The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. They return home after a successful six-game road trip, where they went 4-2 and slowly moved back up the NHL standings. Now they hope to keep things going at home, and with an important period coming up, this is part of their season again.
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They are just two points behind the Canadiens for third place in the Atlantic Division, and just five points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place. With their upcoming home game on Monday, they play against both the Canadiens (tonight) and the Lightning, making these two games very important for the Maple Leafs. Tonight’s match won’t be easy. The last time these teams played, Montreal handed them a rough 5-2 loss. Although Toronto won 5-2 on opening night. So tonight seems to be a big one, with the last game of the season series on March 10, 2026.
Maple Leafs News:
The Maple Leafs just can’t catch a break. Recently against the Carolina Hurricanes, Joseph Woll left the game with a lower body injury and did not return. He has that now placed on the IR retroactive to December 4 and expected to be out for at least a week. In a corresponding move, they recalled Artur Akhtyamov of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL).
In other news, they’ve had great success with the waiver claim by Troy Stecher. He matched up well with Jake McCabe and helped him settle down, returning him to his previous form. They have also seen a resurgence from Auston Matthews since returning to the lineup. He and Matthew Knies have been dominant shift after shift, helping the Maple Leafs open up games. Finally, Toronto is looking to score on their first shot of the game for the fifth straight game. They have scored on their first shot in four straight games, something that hasn’t been done since the 20th century Lightning did it in 2021.
Team StatS
Toronto maple leaves
Season record: 12-11-3 ( 29 pts)
Top scorers:
- William Nylander – 11 G, 21 A, 32 P
- John Tavares – 13 G, 16 A, 29 P
- Matthew Knies – 7 G, 21 A, 28 P
- Morgan Rielly – 4 G, 17 A, 21 P
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 4 G, 16 A, 20 P
Goalkeeper statistics:
- Anthony Stolarz – 6-5-1, 3.51 GAA, 0.884 SV%
- Joseph Woll – 4-3-1, 2.44 GAA, 0.928 SV%
- Dennis Hildeby – 1-2-1, 3.07 GAA, 0.914 SV%
Montreal Canadians
Season record: 14-9-3 (31 points)
Top scorers:
- Nick Suzuki – 8 G, 23 A, 31 P
- Cole Caufield – 14 G, 15 A, 29 P
- Lane Hutson – 4 G, 17 A, 21 P
- Ivan Demidov – 6 G, 14 A, 20 P
- Noah Dobson – 3 G, 13 A, 16 P
Goalkeeper statistics:
- Jakub Dobes – 9-3-2, 3.11 GAA, 0.892 SV%
- Samuel Montembeault – 5-6-1, 3.61 GAA, 0.861 SV%
Projected lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
7:00 PM EN; CBC, TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Mathew Knies-Auston Matthews-Max Domi
Easton Cowan-John Tavares-William Nylander
Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Nicolas Robertson
Dakota Joshua – Nicolas Roy – Bobby McMann
Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe-Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit-Philippe Myers
Dennis Hildeby
Artur Akhtyamov
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Calle Jarnkrok, Matias Maccelli
Injured: Chris Tanev (upper body), Auston Matthews (lower body), Anthony Stolarz (upper body), Brandon Carlo (lower body), Joseph Woll (lower body)
Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovski
Alexandre Texier – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson-Jake Evans-Brendan Gallagher
Jared Davidson – Joe Veleno – Zack Bolduc
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble-Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj-Alexandre Carrier
Jakub Dobes
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Adam Engstrom, Florian Xhekaj
Injured: Kirby Dach (broken foot), Alex Newhook (broken ankle), Kaiden Guhle (lower body), Patrik Laine (lower body)
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