The Maple Leafs are looking to avoid a season series sweep at the hands of Ottawa, turn around their recent dip in form, and keep the surging Senators outside of shouting distance in the Atlantic Division race tonight on HNIC (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
In the Leafs‘ last game against the Senators, Travis Green hard-matched Shane Pinto’s line against Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner with more than satisfactory results from the Ottawa perspective; shot attempts were 11-7 and the score was 1-0 in those minutes in favour as the Senators, who won a 2-1 game. The Leafs have lost their two games to the Senators this season by 3-0 and 2-1 scores.
Combine it with the Leafs‘ recent struggles to score more than two against Florida and Auston Matthews’ dip in goal-scoring, and it makes for an appropriate time for the coaching staff to spread their top three forwards over separate lines in search of a spark while hopefully creating some additional matchup headaches for the opposition.
That’s exactly what Craig Berube will do tonight — at least to start — while also inserting Nick Robertson on the fourth line in place of David Kampf (Pontus Holmberg moves over to the middle):
Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Max Domi
Bobby McMann — John Tavares — Mitch Marner
Calle Jarnkrok — Scott Laughton — William Nylander
Steven Lorentz — Pontus Holmberg — Nick Robertson
Game Day Quotes
Travis Green on what’s clicked for the Senators recently with their five-game winning streak:
I don’t know if there has been anything drastic in our game. We have talked about improving as the year goes on. Our game has slowly improved, but there are still things that we are constantly working on. Our group has done a really good job of resetting from game to game, whether we win or lose.
Green on getting to know Dylan Cozens’ game since the acquisition:
He is a good player. Any time you trade for a player, you can watch a guy on tape, but until you coach him, you don’t really know the finer details or the player as a person. He has come in and looked relatively comfortable in his surroundings. He has played well.
He is a big body who can play physical. He has good hands. There is a lot to like about him.
Shane Pinto on the keys to success against the Leafs:
You have to shut down the big guys, obviously. It’s a big part of it, and you try to counter off of that. Those guys are going to look to play on offense, so hopefully, we can counter and play offense against them. If we play the right way and detailed, hopefully, we come out with the win.
Mitch Marner on his “new” line with John Tavares and Bobby McMann:
We have played together before and in past years. Bobby brings a lot of speed off of the left side. He has a quick release and a great shot. Johnny brings that steadiness of finding quiet ice around the offensive zone and putting himself in good spots around the net. We all know he has a great stick, so it is just about finding him in the right areas and getting pucks to the net for good opportunities for tips.
Scott Laughton on the experience of his Leafs home debut on Thursday:
Coming out on the ice, you get the chills. It was really good coming out and being on the other side of it. My brother and dad were at the game, a couple of cousins, and about 10 of my buddies. It was really cool for me.
I wish we got the two points and contributed, but it is another big one tonight. I am sure it will be the same feeling.
Laughton on his third game as a Leaf:
I moved to the wing and thought I made some good plays coming out of the zone. It was fun with [Tavares & Nylander]. Wherever they need me throughout the night, I’ll try to plug myself in and do the best I can by bringing that physical brand of hockey and providing energy.
I’ll look to continue to do that to the best of my ability and continue to get comfortable. It was probably the best one for me so far, just coming in, having my legs under me, and being comfortable.
Craig Berube on his new line combinations:
Just mixing it up a little bit. Sometimes, players get a little stale playing with each other for quite some time. It gives us a little more depth over three lines.
Berube on the challenge presented by the Senators:
They have a lot of good players. They are doing a really good job defensively this year. Ullmark helps in net for them; he’s a really good goalie. It is going to be a tough game. They are a desperate team, as we should be, too. It will be another playoff game, in my opinion.
Berube on the decision to start Anthony Stolarz after Stolarz started in the loss vs. Florida on Thursday:
Coming off of the injury and the break, we just want to get him into some more games here.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (39-23-3) vs. Senators (35-25-5)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in four out of five offensive categories, but Ottawa holds the advantage in three out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #11 Max Domi
#74 Bobby McMann — #91 John Tavares — #16 Mitch Marner
#19 Calle Jarnkrok — #24 Scott Laughton — #88 William Nylander
#18 Steven Lorentz — #29 Pontus Holmberg — #89 Nick Robertson
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: David Kampf, Philippe Myers
Injured (LTIR): Jani Hakanpää, Max Pacioretty
Ottawa Senators Projected Lines
Forwards
#7 Brady Tkachuk — #18 Tim Stutzle — #28 Claude Giroux
#57 David Perron — #24 Dylan Cozens — #19 Drake Batherson
#71 Ridly Greig — #12 Shane Pinto — #22 Michael Amadio
#15 Matthew Highmore — #81 Adam Gaudette — #20 Fabian Zetterlund
Defensemen
#85 Jake Sanderson — #2 Artem Zub
#72 Thomas Chabot — #23 Travis Hamonic
#43 Tyler Kleven — #33 Nikolas Matinpalo
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Linus Ullmark
#31 Anton Forsberg
Injured: Nick Cousins, Nick Jensen
