The Maple Leafs will need to overcome playing a defenseman short as they hope to inch themselves two points closer to an Atlantic Division regular-season title when they close out the season series on HNIC against the Canadiens (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
Game Day Quotes
Martin St. Louis on his team’s ability to respond after tough nights like yesterday’s 5-2 loss in Ottawa:
I feel they’ll respond. I feel these guys have responded all year. They’re a proud group. It just wasn’t our night.
I think we’ve proven that. We have a pretty honest group. All of that is going to reflect, and it is going to be bring better [Saturday night].
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Canadiens:
They have been playing really good hockey for a while now, in my opinion. As I said yesterday, their core group of young players have grown together here. Suzuki, Caufield, and these guys are turning into really good players.
Lane Hutson is an elite player back there who is hard to handle. He drives a lot of their offense. He is so good at transporting the puck up the ice and doing things in the offensive zone that you don’t normally see. He is a very elusive player.
There are a number of guys in the league now who do those types of things. They really put you on edge. It is hard to handle in the defensive zone with these guys who are so elusive. If you go out on them, they make a move, and they get by you to create time and space for themselves to make plays. He is an elite passer who finds people and is always looking to make plays.
Berube on the final Leafs vs. Habs game of the regular season:
This is one of the best ever (rivalries), going way back. It is what I watched growing up as a kid, these two teams playing on a Saturday night. To be able to be part of it is pretty special.
Montreal is going to give us a good game. They are going to come out ready to go. They are going to be excited and have a lot of energy. I know they played last night, but throw it out the window. It is not going to matter tonight. They are going to come in excited to play us here; they always are, and they give us a tough time every time we play them. I expect the same.
Berube on the keys to preserving with only five defensemen:
When you have five defensemen like that, our forwards are going to have to work tonight. They have to do a good job of helping out with hold-ups, killing plays in the neutral zone, killing plays in the offensive zone, and not allowing Montreal to gain our zone as much while helping out in the defensive zone. They have to help out tonight.
Scott Laughton on whether he’s prepared to fill in on defense if needed:
I am ready. I am ready on the left side. Hard rims only.
I have been fighting for a shift or two back there. We’ll see how the game goes.
I used to run the point on the power play in junior when I was snapping it around back then.
… We were missing a bunch of guys to the World Juniors when I was in Brampton, and I actually played D a full game.
It is tough back there. I have a lot of respect for those guys. There are guys coming in on the forecheck, and you have to read the play and make good plays. I have a ton of respect for guys like [Tanev] who go back and are pretty fearless. He doesn’t worry about getting hit or anything. He always makes the next play.
It is a special position. It is hard. You are the last line of defense. It is really hard.
Laughton on the keys to supporting a shorthanded defense unit:
Supporting pucks, tracking, making it hard on them to get into our zone firstly, and the defending hard quickly and getting out of our zone. That is going to be key.
We have guys who are used to it back there who have played heavy minutes throughout their careers. A guy like [Myers] can step up in this situation and play big minutes for us. We are comfortable back there.
Laughton on the best candidate among the forwards to fill in on defense:
Mitch is the easy answer there. He runs the power play, so you see him back there. I’ve heard he has played it a couple of times throughout and has looked pretty good. He would be the pick.
Laughton the keys to success against the Canadiens:
Hungry team. They are very quick through the neutral zone. They have a lot of speed and skill up front. They have guys who make plays.
We are going to have to be good through the middle of the ice, make it hard on them, and make it a slower night for them.
Steven Lorentz on the points of emphasis for the forward group with the undermanned defense unit:
We spoke about it this morning. There are little things like hold-ups and making smart decisions in the d-zone. Don’t make that extra move and cause a turnover that would get guys caught. Line changes… There are a whole lot of things you can do to make their job a little bit easier.
We’d like to do it every night, but on a night like tonight, we definitely have to pay attention to detail with that stuff. We are undermanned from the word go. There are times when guys might be able to fill in if needed, but hopefully, we can help them out tonight.
Lorentz on the options among the forwards to fill-in on defense:
It seems like some guys want to play D. I know Mitchy and Laughts have experience. Laughty likes to remind me he ran the PP in junior against my Petes and did pretty well against us. I try to forget about it because they lit us up pretty good, but he is capable of doing it.
I have played some D over my career when trying to fill in at times. I have been exposed to it a few times. Hopefully, I am not back there for too long, but if it were to come up, I’d feel comfortable doing it.
There are more than a few guys capable of filling in for a few shifts.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (48-26-4) vs. Canadiens (39-31-9)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in four out of five offensive categories and four out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#19 Calle Jarnkrok — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #89 Nick Robertson
#29 Pontus Holmberg — #24 Scott Laughton — #18 Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
#2 Simon Benoit — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#51 Philippe Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll
Injured: Jake McCabe, David Kampf, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Injured (LTIR): Jani Hakanpää, Max Pacioretty
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines
Forwards
#13 Cole Caufield — #14 Nick Suzuki — #20 Juraj Slafkovsky
#91 Oliver Kapanen — #15 Alex Newhook — #92 Patrik Laine
#17 Josh Anderson — #28 Christian Dvorak — #11 Brendan Gallagher
#55 Michael Pezzetta — #71 Jake Evans — #40 Joel Armia
Defensemen
#8 Mike Matheson — #45 Alexandre Carrier
#21 Kaiden Guhle — #48 Lane Hutson
#47 Jayden Struble — #58 David Savard
Goaltenders
Starter: #75 Jakub Dobes
#35 Sam Montembeault
Injured: Kirby Dach, David Reinbacher
