The Maple Leafs held an optional skate on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena. The Canadiens held a media availability at their hotel.
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The Leafs will face rookie goalie Jacob Fowler for the first time on Saturday as they look for their first divisional win of the season against the Canadiens.
“He’s been playing really well lately and it’s a good team, really good team,” said captain Auston Matthews. “They got a lot of really good players. They’ve gotten some guys back and we got to be ready to go. I mean, these divisional games are extremely important and we haven’t fared so well in the first quarter of the season. We want to make sure we come out from the puck drop and have the right intensity and right mindset.”
Toronto is 0-2-1 against Atlantic Division opponents with all the losses, including an opening night defeat against Montreal, coming at home. It’s a big reason why the team enters play on Saturday sitting seventh in the division.
“It’s a big one,” said rookie winger Gavin McKenna. “We got to make sure right from the beginning that we’re going and kind of setting the tone for the night.”
The Leafs have been off since losing at home to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night. Toronto has dropped three of its past four games. Sergei Bobrovsky, who was in net for all three of those losses, will get the start on Saturday.
The Canadiens are on a 7-0-2 run and just got captain and top-line centre Nick Suzuki back from injury on Thursday. Fowler is 7-1-1 with a .925 save percentage this season.
“They’re just a great, complete team,” said Leafs winger Dakota Joshua. “They got some really talented players over there, but [it’s] just how they play as a five-man unit. They’ve been really good last year and then seem to to be in stride again this year. So you got to be on your toes and they’re always going to come out and compete. You know what to expect from them.”
The Canadiens have won four straight against the Leafs, who last beat their forever rivals on opening night last year.
“They’re a good team,” coach Jim Hiller said. “They proved that last year. Had a good run in the playoffs and a good playoff run just really helps the team get to the next level. You understand how hard hockey is at that time of the year and can carry that over. And then, you know, the first line right now is strong.”
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The Leafs will get a boost on Saturday as John Tavares returns to the lineup after missing nine games with a lower-body injury.
“We’re adding a fantastic player and a guy that does a lot of things for our team,” Matthews said. “The last couple days in practice he’s been the best player on the ice. So he’s going to be a huge boost for us, a huge help not only on the ice, but obviously in the room he carries a presence.”
The Leafs went 5-4-0 without Tavares, who is expected to slot in on the left side of the second line beside Nick Paul and William Nylander.
“It means a lot,” said Joshua. “He’s a heart-and-soul guy on this team. He has looked great out there, so that’s what I expect tonight and it’ll be a good boost for our group.”
Canadiens winger and Burlington, Ont. native Josh Anderson, who scored on opening night and always seems to bring his best against the Leafs, will miss Saturday’s game for personal reasons. Port Hope, Ont. native Owen Beck draws in and will play in Toronto for the first time in the NHL.
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With two assists on Tuesday, Matthews is up to 26 points, which puts him on pace for 128. That would smash his previous career high of 107 set in the 2023-24 season when he scored 69 goals.
Matthews produced 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games last season before suffering a knee injury in March. He posted 33 goals and 78 points in 67 games while dealing with a nagging upper-body injury during the 2024-25 season.
After a couple injury-plagued campaigns, Matthews is finally feeling healthy.
“Obviously a pretty long runway from the time I got hurt in March to September,” Matthews said. “Putting in a lot of good work and smoothing out some some stuff that I wanted to. It’s obviously a long season. There’s always going to be bumps and bruises along the way. But, for myself, just wanting to come in and feel like myself again. I feel like I’ve done that and just want to continue to keep that going.”
The chemistry with winger Jack Roslovic is also contributing to Matthews’ hot start. The pair have reunited in Toronto after previously playing together with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
NHL Edge statistics show that Roslovic, who is third on the team with eight goals, is among the fastest skaters this season.
“I’m not surprised,” Matthews said. “He’s always been a great skater. I saw yesterday in practice, he picked up the puck behind the net and just happened to skate by like four guys pretty easily and very smooth, very strong. He’s able to kind of push teams back, get them back on their heels. Whether he has the puck or he doesn’t have the puck, he’s kind of slashing across. He’s obviously a dangerous guy that you have to be worried about so he creates a little bit more space underneath.”
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Winger Kirill Marchenko continues to be out week-to-week, but the return of Tavares should help stabilize Toronto’s middle-six forward group.
“We’re just hoping, now that John’s in, to try to get some chemistry,” Hiller said. “The lines have been all over the place through these injuries. We just want to try to get that settled down, try to find some chemistry in four lines.”
The third line now features Colton Sissons between Joshua and McKenna.
“There’s two big bodies [who can] give Gavin the puck, let him do his thing, and those guys should be in and around the net,” Hiller said.
“He’s No. 1 overall for a reason,” Joshua said of McKenna. “He’s high-end skill, so just trying to get the puck in his hands as much as possible goes a long way.”
Hiller felt Joshua, Sissons and McKenna looked “outstanding” after being put together midway through Saturday’s game in Vancouver. Joshua played so well that he was promoted to the second line for Tuesday’s game against Utah.
McKenna has 11 points on the season, but five have come on the power play. The 18-year-old has struggled to breakthrough at even strength, but shows flashes of his great potential every night.
“Going out there every day with him, he does something where it’s like, ‘I wasn’t doing that at that age or even now,’” Joshua said with a grin. “The biggest thing is just his natural ability. It doesn’t seem like he’s out there trying to make too much happen. It just all seems to come to him as it does with great players. He has that about him and he carries it very well.”
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Darren Raddysh, Jake McCabe, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are all still looking for their first goal. That means Troy Stecher is the only Leafs defenceman dressing on Saturday who has lit the lamp this season.
“They’re going to come,” Hiller stressed. “I mean, just look at their track records. We’ve got a veteran D core and, you know, Mo scores, Raddy scores, McCabe scores, O scores. You know, there’s a lot of guys that have scored a number of goals in the NHL as D. So we’re looking forward to that punch.”
Raddysh, who scored 22 goals last season, spoke earlier this week about wanting to get more shots through. He landed a season-high six shots against Utah.
Ekman-Larsson, who led the Leafs defence with 39 points last year, has just one assist so far this season.
“I’ve never been, like, focusing on the points,” the 35-year-old said. “But, I mean, I’m like everybody else, you always want to play better. You always want to help the team win. So, I feel like we have a little bit of that left. We need more wins, obviously, and to be a little more consistent. So, yeah, I’ll leave it at that.”
“He’s been up and down,” said Hiller. “I think, like most of our players, we’ve been a little bit inconsistent. But when O’s on his game, and we’ve seen that plenty this year, he’s a very, very important player for us.”
Hiller points out that Ekman-Larsson has just been elevated to the second power play unit, which also features Rielly.
“It’s nice, when the other team is bringing their guy out of the box, that you have two D on the ice because they can get dangerous in a hurry,” Hiller explained. “So, listen, we’re trying to score, but that’s always an added benefit. There’s less chaos on the bench when you have two D out there. But we like O. He’s got a long history of playing the power play. He’s got a great wrist shot when he gets that opportunity to sift it in.”
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Projected Leafs lineup for Saturday’s game:
Cowan - Matthews - Roslovic
Tavares - Paul - Nylander
Joshua - Sissons - McKenna
Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen
McCabe - Raddysh
Rielly - Tanev
Ekman-Larsson - Stecher
Bobrovsky starts
Stolarz