Auston Matthews’ return means the Maple Leafs’ lineup is at full strength for this much-anticipated HNIC rivalry game against the Boston Bruins (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
Encouragingly, the Leafs‘ McMann – Domi – Robertson third line, along with a couple of goals from the fourth line (vs. NYI and DET), remained productive during Matthews’ recent six-game absence. The top six, which was in a makeshift configuration with Matthews out and the third line remaining together, wasn’t outscored at five-on-five but wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders during the team’s 3-3-0 stretch without the captain.
The Leafs are hoping that now, as the top six returns to its most familiar, full-strength setup (Knies – Matthews – Marner / Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander), they are going to find their most complete, deep, and dangerous offensive form of the season entering the new year, to go along with their generally steady defense and high-level goaltending.
This is as good as the Leafs forward group gets right now – which is really, really good – no notes. Hope everything comes together for this to settle in & get into a game flow as 4 lines that work off each other. We have already seen each line individually be good at this point. https://t.co/nj73J1NDiM
— Anthony Petrielli (@APetrielli) January 4, 2025
Their return to full strength up front comes at a time when the Leafs are welcoming to town a 20-16-4 Bruins team that has lost two in a row and is now six points behind them (with a game in hand for Toronto) in the Atlantic Division race. Eight points ahead with a game in hand at the halfway mark is a lot of ground to make up in a parity-filled, loser-point-era NHL, so while a Leafs regulation win tonight wouldn’t put the Bruins completely out of striking distance, it would be a big hill to climb.
When the Leafs ended their regular-season losing streak against the Bruins back in November with a solid 4-0 win in Toronto, they were without Matthews, and it was a game chocked full of special teams, a battle Leafs won decisively by going six-for-six on the penalty kill and three-for-seven on the power play. At five-on-five, the Leafs decidedly carried the edge in shot attempts before score effects set in, but it was a cagey even-strength battle with few quality scoring chances at either end in the opening 40 minutes. More of the same wouldn’t be surprising tonight, given the two sides’ defensive strengths.
A line of Knies – Domi – Marner drew the majority of the Marchand – Lindholm – Pastrnak matchup in that game, along with the Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev pair. It proved to be a low-event saw-off in those minutes, which the Leafs happily would’ve taken in the circumstances. Whether Craig Berube goes with the Matthews line against the Bruins’ top line in Matthews’ first game back or the Tavares line remains to be seen, but the McCabe – Tanev pairing will be a big piece of the puzzle either way. If the Leafs can keep that Boston top line quiet, the Bruins have not had much going on at all in terms of depth scoring this season.
Game Day Quotes
Brad Marchand on the 2024-25 Maple Leafs:
They’re an extremely good team this year. They’ve been building for a while now and have really kind of figured out the right way to play, with the way they stick up for each other and compete for each other. They’re a different brand of hockey right now.
Bruins head coach Joe Sacco on the impact of Auston Matthews’ return on the Bruins’ gameplan:
There is definitely some tinkering, certainly. You are talking about one of the premiere goal-scorers in the league. We have to make some adjustments accordingly.
It gives them more depth up front. We have to make sure our matchups are pretty tight tonight as best as we can on the road.
We have seen a lot of Matthews. We know what he can bring to their team.
Sacco, a former Leaf draft pick/player, on whether he ever envisioned returning to Toronto as a rival head coach:
No, not really. Not way back when I was 20 or 21 years old.
I have always enjoyed Toronto. I enjoyed my three years I spent here up and down with the organization. I had the opportunity to come back as a player and play in the old Maple Leaf Gardens and see the transformation with the new building.
It is a great hockey city. Always has been. Always will be.
Sacco on the Bruins vs. Leafs rivalry:
It is intense and always has been. We have played them in the playoffs I don’t know how many times over the last six or seven years. It is always a good matchup against Toronto. Nothing has changed.
They are ahead of us in the standings now. We are trying to climb. There is a lot at stake any time you play these guys. It is a great matchup.
Craig Berube on the decision to re-unite Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner with Matthews’ return:
They’ve had good success together.
There was actually a lot of discussion about it — where does he go, and what do we do? More than anything, I just like the look of that line together. They have played extremely well this year for us.
Tavares, Pacioretty, and Nylander have played well for us. The Domi line is playing well together. We just had to make a couple of lineup decisions with Reaves and Holmberg.
John Tavares on the return of Matthews:
It doesn’t get much better than that when we get our captain back and one of the best in the world. He is a unique, special player who does so much for us at all ends of the ice. No one can score goals quite like him.
We are thrilled. It has been up and down for him and has been frustrating at times, but he has just continued to stay with what he has to do to work through it and get himself ready to play. I know he is excited.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (24-13-2) vs. Bruins (20-16-4)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in five of five offensive categories and three out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#67 Max Pacioretty — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz — #64 David Kampf — #24 Connor Dewar
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Conor Timmins, Pontus Holmberg, Ryan Reaves
Injured (IR): Anthony Stolarz
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpää
Boston Bruins Projected Lines
Forwards
#63 Brad Marchand — #28 Elias Lindholm — #88 David Pastrnak
#18 Pavel Zacha — #13 Charlie Coyle — #39 Morgan Geekie
#18 Oliver Wahlstrom — #11 Trent Frederic — #55 Justin Brazeau
#19 John Beecher — #47 Mark Kastelic — #45 Cole Koepke
Defensemen
#91 Nikita Zadorov — #73 Charlie McAvoy
#20 Jordan Oesterle — #25 Brandon Carlo
#6 Mason Lohrei — #52 Andrew Peeke
Goaltenders
Starter: #1 Jeremy Swayman
#70 Joonas Korpisalo
Injured: Hampus Lindholm
