Now without Chris Tanev, the Maple Leafs hope to keep rolling through their week of Original Six opponents when they visit a Rangers team currently in a dogfight for a playoff spot (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario).
Game Day Quotes
Ryan Reaves on his anticipation for his return to the lineup:
It’s been a month. We’re playing against an old team in a fun arena that is always buzzing. It’s going to be fun.
Reaves on his memories from fighting Matt Rempe last season:
Just how tall he was. You hear about how tall somebody is, and then you get up in front of him. He looks a little taller than I imagined. But it’s nothing I’ve never fought before.
Auston Matthews on his energy levels coming off of 4 Nations:
I feel fine. It was good to get three wins in three games.
I’m getting looks. There have been a couple of posts. It is a little frustrating at times, but we are playing well. We could’ve been better in some areas, but coming off a break that long and winning three games — including a big comeback win the other night — is huge. We want to keep the momentum going.
Matthews on whether this is the most frustrating run of goal-scoring luck of his career:
I have definitely had some similar ones, but it is fine. We are winning games. I am getting the opportunities. It is all you can ask for. One is going to go in. Everything will settle down.
Matthews on the loss of Chris Tanev to injury:
He is a tough customer. In every game, he blocks a shot, and you think, “That can’t possibly feel good. Something has to be broken.” But he just competes.
Unfortunately, he is at a point where he can’t play right now, but he is such a big part of this team with the role he plays on the backend and the minutes he eats up against the other team’s top players and top lines.
We have dealt with injuries throughout the year. It is an opportunity for other guys to step up and fill the void with more opportunity.
Matthews on the challenge of solving Igor Shesterkin in the Rangers’ net:
He is just never out of it. You think you might have him, but he is so athletic. He might not be the biggest guy, but he has great angles. He is extremely athletic and anticipates the play and pucks very well. It is always a challenge.
We have kind of gone back and forth throughout the years, but he is definitely one of the top goalies in the game.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette on the challenge presented by the Leafs:
They’re an offensive team. They have high-end skill and firepower. We are going to have to make sure we are playing defensively, but the teams we have played recently are capable of scoring a lot of goals as well. Buffalo scored a lot of goals recently. The Islanders’ offense has been pretty good lately. It seems like every night you get an opponent with some players you have to be mindful of, and Toronto certainly fits that situation.
It’s about making sure we are doing the right things defensively.
Laviolette on whether the energy levels of his 4 Nations participants have been lower than the rest of the team:
They left a big stage with big games. To me, coming back is an emotional thing. It is not that it is not important here, but everybody watched those games. Everyone watched the first one, the second one, and all of the games. Certainly, the US-Canadian game drew a lot of attention, and with that came a lot of emotion. It’s just like inside of an overtime of a playoff game.
I think our guys have come in and played pretty well. We have gotten some wins here. There was a game where we weren’t on point, but we are long past that and are looking for a good game tonight.
We do try to be mindful of fatigue as well and try to control it as best we can. It was an optional skate this morning, and most likely, everyone who was on the ice yesterday isn’t going out with regard to those [4 Nations] players.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (36-20-2) vs. Rangers (29-25-4)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, New York holds the advantage in three out of five offensive categories, but Toronto holds the advantage in four out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#29 Pontus Holmberg — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz — #64 David Kampf — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#22 Jake McCabe — #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Marshall Rifai, Alex Steeves, Connor Dewar
Injured: Chris Tanev
Injured (IR): Max Pacioretty
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpää
New York Rangers Projected Lines
Forwards
#10 Artemi Panarin — #16 Vincent Trocheck — #13 Alexis Lafreniere
#50 Will Cuylle — #8 JT Miller* — #93 Mika Zibanejad
#20 Chris Kreider* — #39 Sam Carrick — #91 Reilly Smith
#78 Brennan Othmann — #22 Johnny Brodzinski — #73 Matt Rempe
Defensemen
#79 K’Andre Miller — #17 Will Borgen
#55 Ryan Lindgren — #18 Uho Vaakanainen
#6 Zac Jones — #4 Braden Schneider
Goaltenders
Starter: #31 Igor Shesterkin
#32 Jonathan Quick
*game-time decisions
Injured: Adam Fox, Adam Edstrom
