The Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks skated at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.
Auston Matthews is planning to bring emotion into Monday’s game as the Leafs look to snap a three-game skid (0-2-1) against the San Jose Sharks.
“We just want to make sure that we come out and we’re skating, we’re moving, we’re playing physical and doing the right things,” the Leafs captain said. “Playing with better structure, I think, can help minimize some of the mistakes that we’ve had. But, for the most part, it’s just got to be some emotion and making sure that we come out ready to play and go from there.”
Matthews will likely see a lot of captain counterpart Macklin Celebrini, who is fresh off a three-point night in a shootout loss Saturday in Detroit.
“Just gets better and better every year,” Matthews observed of Celebrini. “But, I mean, his IQ stands out. The pace of play that he plays with and very competitive on pucks. He’s strong in battles. He comes out of those 50/50 battles with the puck most of the time, and I mean that’s kind of just stuff you can’t really teach. I think it’s like a mindset, and he’s definitely got it.”
It’s a mindset 2026 first-overall pick Gavin McKenna saw up close during the summer when he got the chance to train alongside the 2024 first-overall pick.
“I would, personally, call him just a machine,” McKenna marvelled. “Like the way he’s skating every day, working out every day. He’s taking care of his body, fuelling his body. It’s just so pro and at such a young age, it’s really impressive to see.”
And, like Matthews, Celebrini is a little extra fired up right now. The Sharks are one of two teams without a regulation win this season and they’ve been struggling to hold leads. A two-goal edge evaporated in the final frame on Saturday. It was the fourth time this season that the Sharks blew a two-goal lead in the third period.
“There’s no hiding it,” the 20-year-old centre stressed. “We need to learn a lot. We need to learn how to close these games. I mean, we’re leaving points on the table at some point.”
Celebrini has never lost to the Leafs with San Jose sweeping all four games since he entered the league. He always gets up for these matchups against Matthews.
“They’re super fun,” Celebrini said. “He’s someone that growing up I watched a lot and I think everyone did just with how much of a prolific goal scorer he was and his touch around the net. And his complete game as well is something I’ve watched and tried to learn from.”
---
Monday marks exactly 10 years since Matthews, the first-overall pick in the 2016 draft, played Patrik Laine, the second-overall pick in 2016, for the first time in the NHL. Laine scored a hat trick, including the overtime winner, as Winnipeg fans serenaded Matthews with chants of ‘Laine’s better!’
“It’s always an exciting moment,” Matthews recalled. “I think it’s a good measuring stick for sure. I mean, I remember my first game against Patty, it didn’t go my way for sure.”
Matthews finished with one assist and was stopped on a breakaway before Laine scored in overtime.
“I think you kind of use it as a bit of a measuring stick, but at the same time, you go out there and focus on yourself, focus on the team, and play a game and play to win,” Matthews said.
That’s the mindset McKenna is adopting as he prepares to take on Sharks winger Ivar Stenberg, the second-overall pick in June, for the first time.
“I’m excited,” the 18-year-old from Whitehorse said. “He’s having a good start to the year but, at the end of the day, I don’t really go out there thinking it’s McKenna versus Stenberg. It’s Leafs versus the Sharks. So, it’s a team game. Just looking forward to playing against them.”
The last time McKenna and Stenberg faced off was in December in a pre-tournament game between Canada and Sweden ahead of the 2026 World Juniors. It didn’t go well for McKenna who accidentally put the puck in his own net on a delayed penalty before watching Stenberg score the game-winning goal in the third period.
Stenberg has an early edge in points so far this season. The softspoken Swede has recorded two goals and four assists through eight games while McKenna is at two goals and three assists in nine outings.
Is Stenberg motivated to show the Leafs what they passed on?
“I don’t know, to be honest,” he said. “Yeah, I’m happy to be a Shark and super happy to be here.”
“I think every game is important to him,” said Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky. “He’s got a great head on his shoulders. You know, he’s a real savant on how he wants to play the game and understand it, and he’s picking up things quickly.”
---
Stenberg is looking forward to sharing the ice with William Nylander on Monday.
“So skilled and one of the best Swedes, so fun to see him,” Stenberg said.
Although, Nylander missed the Leafs morning skate and is listed as a game-time decision due to an illness.
“I think he’s gonna be great tonight,” Matthews said with a grin. “It’s usually how it goes with him. So, I don’t think any of us are too worried.”
---
The Leafs called up Vinni Lettieri from the American Hockey League and the 31-year-old will make his debut with the team on the third line beside McKenna and Colton Sissons.
“It’s obviously an honour no matter when you get called up,” said Lettieri, who was a big part of the Marlies’ Calder Cup championship run last spring. “To do it with this group and to play for the Maple Leafs, it’s a special thing. So there’s a lot of history behind it. Just can’t thank my teammates and coaching staff and management, obviously, for giving me the opportunity because I wouldn’t be here without them. So just excited.”
Lettieri hasn’t played in the NHL since a 26-game stint with the Boston Bruins in the 2024-25 season.
Jim Hiller was impressed by Lettieri during the team’s training camp, which was shortened to just two weeks and two pre-season games.
“It was a funny training camp this year,” the Leafs coach said. “We kind of split the groups really early. I remember being on the ice with the second group, and he was just working. It really caught my eye right away. I’m sure he wanted to be with the big group and feel like he had a fairer chance of making the team. Terrific attitude. Skilled, but just his work ethic and his passion really caught me. He’s done a great job for the Marlies, going back to last year’s playoffs.”
---
The Leafs also called up Artur Akhtyamov, who will dress as the back-up goalie on Monday when Sergei Bobrovsky starts against the Sharks and then again on Tuesday when Anthony Stolarz is slated to start against the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
Hiller noted this will allow Bobrovsky and Stolarz to get some extra rest.
---
It’s also a big night for 2025 second-overall pick and Oakville, Ont., native Michael Misa, who is playing his first NHL game in Toronto.
“It’s pretty surreal just going on the ice for morning skate and looking around,” the 19-year-old Sharks centre said with a smile. “Cool to be back and looking at the seats I used to sit in when I’d come to watch the games. It’s a pretty surreal feeling.”
Misa’s guest list stretches to around 20 names.
“I’m paying,” he confirmed. “But I only see them one time a year, so thought it was the right thing to do.”
Misa’s family celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving one week late with a big dinner featuring turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie on Sunday night. The Sharks are hoping the home cooking will help get Misa going. He’s stuck on three assists through eight games.
---
Lines at Leafs skate:
Groulx* - Matthews - Roslovic
Cowan - Paul - Marchenko
McKenna - Sissons - Lettieri
Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen
McCabe - Raddysh
Rielly - Stecher
Ekman-Larsson - Blankenburg
Rifai
Bobrovsky starts
Stolarz
Akhtyamov
*Nylander absent (illness)
Lines at Sharks skate:
Chernyshov - Celebrini - Smith
Marchment - Wennberg - Toffoli
Stenberg - Misa - Sherwood
Goodrow - Ostapchuk - Graf
Nurse - Kesselring
Dickinson - Trouba
Orlov - Cagnoni
Askarov starts