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’re hoping to keep things rolling at home, and with an important stretch coming up, this is another make or break part of their season.
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They sit just two points behind the Canadiens for third in the Atlantic Division, and only five points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for first. With their upcoming home stand, they’ll be playing both the Canadiens (tonight) and the Lightning on Monday, which makes these two games very important for the Maple Leafs. Tonight’s game won’t be easy. The last time these teams played, Montreal handed them a rough 5-2 loss. Although on opening night, Toronto won 5-2. So tonight shapes up to be a big one, with the final game of the season series set for March 10th, 2026.
Maple Leafs News:
The Maple Leafs just can’t catch a break. The other night against the Carolina Hurricanes, Joseph Woll left the game with a lower-body injury and didn’t return. He has now been placed on the IR retroactively to Dec. 4 and is expected to be out for at least a week. In a corresponding move, they have recalled Artur Akhtyamov from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL).
In other news, they’ve had a lot of success with the waiver claim of Troy Stecher. He has fit in well with Jake McCabe and helped settle him down, bringing him back to his previous form. They have also seen a resurgence from Auston Matthews since he returned to the lineup. He and Matthew Knies have been dominant shift after shift, which has helped the Maple Leafs break games open. Lastly, Toronto is looking to score on their first shot of the game for the fifth straight game. They’ve scored on their first shot in four straight, something that hasn’t been done since the Lightning did it in 2021.
Team Stats
Toronto Maple Leafs
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
Goalie Stats:
- Anthony Stolarz – 6-5-1, 3.51 GAA, .884 SV%
- Joseph Woll – 4-3-1, 2.44 GAA, .928 SV%
- Dennis Hildeby – 1-2-1, 3.07 GAA, .914 SV%
Montreal Canadiens
Season Record: 14-9-3 (31 pts)
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
Goalie Stats:
- Jakub Dobes – 9-3-2, 3.11 GAA, .892 SV%
- Samuel Montembeault – 5-6-1, 3.61 GAA, .861 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
7 p.m. ET; 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 — Nicholas 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 Slafkovsky
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)
