After their five-game winning streak was snapped in Carolina (and the top line drowned in minuses), the Maple Leafs are looking for a response effort against a tired Canucks team mired in on- and off-ice turmoil (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
Game Day Quotes
Max Pacioretty on whether the team can use Canucks’ schedule and travel situation to their advantage:
I didn’t know [the Canucks were flying in today]. It is not something we would even talk about or care about.
Professionals. Whether it is something known or private, everyone kind of deals with their things. I expect them to come out really hard for a Canadian matchup.
Pacioretty on the mindset coming off a healthy scratch in Carolina:
Just keep going. I like where I am at.
As a team, we would like to be playing better. There were a lot of wins in there, but we weren’t too thrilled about the process every night when it came to those wins. That doesn’t mean that you sit here and nitpick.
Just keep building my game. Good opportunity tonight. Hopefully, I can keep building my game.
Pacioretty on the importance of winning the division:
It is a little bit too early for that. Especially in the East, there are a lot of teams jammed up there. It is definitely, in my mind, too early to look at that. Maybe a little bit more by the break.
Trying to pick up points every night is the most important thing, and then you see where it lays out after that. Teams get hot and cold at the right and wrong times.
We just went on a little bit of a heater in the standings, but we do think we have a lot in our game to get better at. That is where the focus is, first and foremost.
Chris Tanev on the Canucks traveling to Toronto from Raleigh on the day of the game:
It happened last year when I was in Dallas. I don’t know where we were, but we flew the day of to Colorado. We ended up playing really well, so sometimes, you just show up and don’t think. You’re playing.
But it is not ideal to travel on the day of the game. Everyone has their routines and everything. It can throw it for a loop.
Rick Tocchet on his team’s league-low shots on goal rate:
There are opportunities to hit the net and shoot. There is no magic tic-tac-toe stuff.
We have to try to generate some stuff, but we need people to move their feet, too.
Craig Berube on coaching against a Rick Tocchet-coached team:
He is a very good and smart coach.
He is a guy who, matchup-wise, will do some different things. You have to be ready for it. He is not just going to match head-to-head with the top players all the time. He is going to throw other players against your top guys and try to mix it up and get his guys loose against other lines.
He is a very good coach. He has done a lot of great things in the league.
Berube on how the team can take advantage of a tired Canucks team that traveled from Raleigh the day of the game:
Well, you just kind of focus on us and our team. I get it. It’s tough travel for them after playing last night. I get all that, but let’s just throw that all out the window. Let’s focus on us. We are going to focus on what we need to do better from the last game.
Check. Play defense. Keep the puck out of our net. We didn’t do a good enough job of it last game. We had played of chances to score, and we scored goals. But we gave up too much in the game.
Berube on the decision to start Dennis Hildeby for tonight’s game:
Woll has played a lot, and I was thinking ahead to Dallas coming in. I liked Dennis’ game in his last start. There was the mentor’s trip, travel, and travel home. That is why I went with Hildeby.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (27-14-2) vs. Canucks (18-13-10)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in four out 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
#24 Connor Dewar — #64 David Kampf — #18 Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson —#8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Dennis Hildeby
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Pontus Holmberg, Ryan Reaves, Marshall Rifai
Injured (IR): Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolarz
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpää
Vancouver Canucks Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Jonathan Lekkerimaki — #9 JT Miller — #6 Brock Boeser
#74 Jake DeBrusk — #40 Elias Pettersson — #8 Conor Garland
#20 Danton Heinen — #53 Teddy Blueger — #34 Phil Di Giuseppe
#54 Juha Jaaska — #18 Jack Drury — #44 Kiefer Sherwood
Defensemen
#43 Quinn Hughes — #57 Tyler Myers
#7 Carson Soucy — #47 Noah Juulsen
#27 Derek Forbort — #73 Vincent Desharnais
Goaltenders
Starter: #32 Kevin Lankinen
#35 Thatcher Demko
Injured: Filip Hronek, Dakota Joshua
