Dennis Hidelby starts in goal as the Maple Leafs seek their fourth consecutive win when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets (7:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
The Leafs have lost three of the last four to Columbus (two in overtime) and conceded six goals in each loss, including their worst loss of the 2024-25 season back on October 22. The Leafs were 5-0 down just past the midway point of the second period in that game, en route to a 6-2 defeat.
The throughline in their recent defeats to the Blue Jackets is that the Leafs have fed Columbus’ transition/rush game with poor decision-making and puck mismanagement. While they are not strong defensively or in net, Columbus has plenty of speed, skill, and youthful energy in their lineup. They’re top five in the NHL in five-on-five shooting percentage, and they own a top-10 power play. While several of them are injured and out of the lineup tonight, they also have six Ontario natives on their roster.
Mission number one for the Leafs is to not beat themselves by offering up any freebies. There should be enough offensive opportunity available to the Leafs through a patient, mature, and disciplined approach built on their superior defensive structure.
Game Day Quotes
Steven Lorentz on whether the Oct. 22 loss to the Blue Jackets is in the back of the team’s mind heading into the rematch:
For sure. You look back at some video, and there are definitely mistakes that happened. You address those. As the season goes on, you play a lot of different teams, but we have to get their number again. We have to get back to playing our way.
We can’t take any team lightly when they come into our building. We expect their best coming into Toronto. We have to focus on ourselves tonight and bring it from the first shift, kind of like the Tampa game where you start with shift one and roll from there.
You can’t think big picture or think about later on in the game. If we play a shift at a time and stick to our systems, we will be okay.
Craig Berube on the decision to start Dennis Hildeby:
Woll has had a lot of work — a lot of emotional games, I would say, like against Montreal and Tampa. Those are big games and emotional games. A lot of work.
With the schedule, it was time for Hildeby to get in there.
Berube on the challenge presented by the Blue Jackets:
They have some good players over there. They really do. Size and strength. They can score. Werenski is having a great year on the backend. Very good player.
They come at you pretty good. Their power play has been clicking. Young team that plays with a lot of energy and some really good skill.
Berube on whether the players are keeping the 6-2 loss to Columbus in the back of their minds:
They remember it for sure. They don’t forget about that, but it is a different time. We just have to focus on what we need to do to be successful in the game.
That is what we talked about this morning: our mindset going into the game and our motivation level. We have to check tonight. That is going to be important because of their talent and speed.
We have to play a tight-checking game. We will get our opportunities. That has to be the approach.
Columbus head coach Dean Evason on coaching against Berube:
I have coached against Chief for a long time. I played against him. Fortunately, I didn’t have anything to do with him on the ice.
I have tremendous respect for what he has done as a coach at every level he’s been.
Evason on his team scoring just one goal in the last two games:
You get the defensive zone cleaned up, and then your scoring (dries up). You get your scoring up, and your neutral zone (goes).
We are constantly tweaking, as every team and every coaching staff does. We want us to continue to play the right way and give ourselves a chance to stay in hockey games.
We’ve talked about that a lot, at home and on the road: giving ourselves a chance to stay in games, not feeding into teams, and not letting the game get away from us by cheating it.
We don’t want to talk too much about scoring goals. We have the recipe of defense-first that will allow us to translate to offensive opportunities and hopefully goals.
Evason on the impressive 2024-25 season by Zach Werenski:
You see the minutes, you see the stats, and you watch some of the goals, and those are all fantastic factors in helping us win hockey games. But what he has done as a leader, as a calm presence, and as a mature person within the locker room has really helped us. He does a lot of things that people don’t see from the outside but we clearly value from the inside.
With the adversity we’ve talked about with Johnny Gaudreau, and we don’t have Boone Jenner or Erik Gudbranson — two of the leaders on our hockey club as captain and assistant coach — it has allowed him to step up and be a leader within our hockey club.
He is a quiet guy. He doesn’t get up on the soapbox and give a lot of speeches, but he has spoken to the group a few times. That leadership has given him the confidence to play with the ability he has physically.
Ontario native Adam Fantilli on his advance to Woodbridge’s Luca Del Bel Belluz on playing his first NHL game in Toronto:
Enjoy it. I was definitely overwhelmed coming back last time. I think I had 90-100 people here or something. It gets to you.
To be honest, it is going to be an experience you remember for a while. Just enjoy it.
Fantilli on the number of friends and family in attendance tonight:
70. They don’t slow down. Paying to play tonight.
I am extremely grateful to have the people show up. They showed up at the draft. I had a ton of people at my first game here. Those were two big firsts for me.
Tonght, it will be the first time I’ll be like, “Alright. I’ve done this before. I can just play the game and have fun.”
Del Bel Belluz on his best memories from growing up as a Leafs fan:
Coming to Leafs games with my parents and my sister. We went to a lot of games together, and sometimes just with me and my dad. It is where I fell in love with the game here at the ACC at the time. Such a cool rink and atmosphere. It is going to be awesome to be out there tonight.
… There were a couple of playoff games I went to as a Leafs fan that were pretty cool. There was one where Auston Matthews scored an overtime winner against Chicago. He came down on a 2-on-1 and kind of went backhand bar. It was in and out so quickly. That was in the first couple of years of his career.
Del Bel Belluz on his appreciation for Auston Matthews’ game:
He is one of my favourite players. His shot is unbelievable. He has a really underrated two-way game. He strips guys off pucks. He plays with a little bit of grease. He is a special player. Excited to get out there and face off against him tonight.
Del Bel Belluz on the number of friends and family in attendance tonight:
50+. I don’t know the exact number, but there is going to be a good crowd. I can’t thank them enough for wanting to support me and coming out here. It is not like any of those people asked for tickets. They found their one way to get their own tickets to support me. I can’t thank them enough.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (30-16-2) vs. Blue Jackets (22-18-7)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Columbus holds the advantage in three out of five offensive categories, but Toronto holds the advantage in five out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#74 Bobby McMann — #29 Pontus Holmberg — #88 William Nylander
#11 Max Domi — #39 Fraser Minten — #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz — #64 David Kampf — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #44 Morgan Rielly
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson — #8 Chris Tanev
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Dennis Hildeby
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Philippe Myers, Jacob Quillan
Injured (day-to-day): Connor Dewar
Injured (IR): Max Pacioretty, John Tavares, Anthony Stolarz
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpää
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
Forwards
#10 Dmitri Voronkov — #19 Adam Fantilli — #86 Kirill Marchenko
#21 James van Riemsdyk — #65 Luca Del Bel Belluz — #91 Kent Johnson
#27 Zach Aston-Reese — #17 Justin Danforth — #24 Mathieu Olivier
#82 Mikael Pythia — #7 Sean Kuraly
Defensemen
#8 Zach Werenski — #15 Dante Fabbro
#23 Jake Christiansen — #9 Ivan Provorov
#22 Jordan Harris — #78 Damon Severson
#3 Jack Johnson
Goaltenders
Starter: #90 Elvis Merzlikins
#40 Daniil Tarasov
Injured: Cole Sillinger, Sean Monahan, Yegor Chinakhov, Boone Jenner, Erik Gudbranson, Denton Mateychuk
