The Maple Leafs are hoping to put together their first three-game winning streak of the season before heading back on the road, but a Rangers team off to a strong start stands in their way (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Game Day Quotes
Jake McCabe on the high stick he took to the eye area in Columbus:
Certainly, there was panic for a couple seconds. I was able to open it up quick and see that I could still see. Paul always takes good care of us, and our training staff and their docs.
Just a little bit of swelling right away, obviously, and yesterday, but it feels a lot better today.
McCabe on his frustration with the high stick:
A little bit. I’ll be honest. I think guys can take better care of their sticks, for sure. But obviously, it’s an accident. I’m not going to fault him for that.
Just a general consensus, I’ve gotten a couple high sticks the last three, four games, and they seem to be from younger players. Keep your stick down.
McCabe on the defense stepping up without Chris Tanev:
Guys are stepping in. Marshall steps in the other night, scores his first goal, playing with five D most of the night, too, which I think is probably great for him.
Oftentimes, when you get called up and maybe you’re only getting 10, 12 minutes, it’s a little bit harder to get in the game. I was happy to see him getting a regular shift and playing close to 20. It’s great for his confidence, and I thought he played really well.
Blanky’s stepping in, and he’s been great. Me and Stetch hopping over the boards first on the penalty kill, I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far. Just trying to keep that thing rolling.
In the room, Tanny’s missed as well, but we’ve got a lot of good leaders in here to step up in his absence.
McCabe on facing Lafrenière and the Rangers:
He plays with a lot of pace. He’s got a really good shot, really good release, and just a good offensive mind. Obviously, playing with a ton of confidence.
It’s going to be a really good test for us tonight against him and their group in general. They’ve been playing with a lot of confidence this year and have had some success early, so it’s going to be a good matchup.
William Nylander on McCabe’s toughness and what he means to the team:
It’s crazy. Through the years, you’ve seen him go through a lot of things and battle through. To see him back out there today in the morning, and hopefully ready to play tonight, makes you happy.
Just his pure competitiveness out there, and every night laying his body on the line for us to win. Just an ultimate leader. Something that you always miss when he’s not in the lineup.
Nylander on whether Matthews is playing at his 70-goal-chase level, and what stands out when Matthews is at his best:
Probably maybe even better than at that point. We’ll see. I think 70 goals is crazy, but just the way he’s playing is about the same, probably.
The game just comes to you, and everything just kind of happens. He’s been working hard and skating great out there. The game’s just coming to him..
Nylander on playing with Marchenko:
He was battling (in Columbus). He did a great job battling. It was fun to see. I love playing with him. He thinks the game similarly, and being a righty, and the size that he brings to the table, too… I think our line has been clicking pretty good. Just want to build off of that.
Darren Raddysh on playing against his brother, Taylor:
That’s always good fun, seeing him. Saw him last night. Mom’s in town, so it’s good to see everyone.
It’ll be special. He’s been supportive of my decision to come here and what it means to our family. We’ve talked about it for a long time. Both being on the ice here, it’ll be special.
Raddysh on telling his brother the news that he was joining the Leafs:
It was special. We both kind of looked at each other, just like, “Is this actually real? Am I going to do this?”
It’s something that we talked about, just me and him. I’m very, very happy with the decision I made.
Raddysh on the possibility of playing with his brother again one day:
We’ve talked about it. We got to play two games in Tampa together. Obviously, we played junior together for three years, and that was pretty special for the whole family. Mom and Dad got to drive to one city instead of two in the OHL.
It’d be amazing to play with him, and hopefully maybe we have that opportunity one day. But obviously, he’s on the other team tonight. Like Marchy was saying last game, there are no friends out there.
Maybe I’m not going to hit him too hard in the corner, but I’ll definitely be trying my hardest against him.
Raddysh on McCabe’s toughness:
Jake’s a tough character. After I saw the replay of that, I thought, “Oh my God, that didn’t look good.” Seeing him now, I think the doctor helped him out pretty good there. I think it was a pretty bad cut.
Jake’s an unbelievable defenseman. He’s played for a long time, and he’s made a great career out of the way he plays. It just shows how tough he is. He’s probably not going to miss a game just from what happened.
He’s a great dude.
Raddysh on Matthews’ form:
Auston’s been amazing. From the day he came back from Arizona, he’s been flying. Just the way he’s skating out there, hard on his stick, making plays.
He’s back to the Auston I remember when I first came into the league. We were going up against him when he was trying to get 70 that game, last game of the season. It was all hands on deck to try and stop him for that one.
That’s vintage Auston, and I’m glad to see he’s back to his old self.
Jim Hiller on the Rangers’ 7-3-1 start:
I haven’t watched them a ton. I’ve been pretty focused here. We’ve had a pretty busy start to our season, but they’re a good team.
I really like the additions. I think they made their blue line better this summer. I know a couple of those players, coached them before, so I think that’s a big part of it. You firm up your blue line a little bit. Goalie’s playing well despite the star being out.
When you’re playing good, you’re feeling good, you’re winning games, you’re a tough opponent. That’s what they are tonight.
Maple Leafs vs. Rangers: By the Numbers
Swipe the table to compare teams.| Category | Maple Leafs 2026–27 · 11 GP | Rangers 2026–27 · 11 GP |
|---|---|---|
| Games played | 11 | 11 |
| Record | 5–4–2 [21st] | 7–3–1 [9th] |
| Points percentage | .545 [21st] | .682 [9th] |
| Goals for | 38 [T-5th] | 33 [T-9th] |
| Goals against | 34 [T-23rd] | 24 [T-6th] |
| Goals for / game | 3.45 [8th] | 3.00 [T-17th] |
| Goals against / game | 3.09 [17th] | 2.18 [3rd] |
| Home record | 3–3–1 [T-20th] | 6–0–0 [T-1st] |
| Away record | 2–1–1 [T-9th] | 1–3–1 [26th] |
| 5v5 shot attempts % | 46.2% [26th] | 46.3% [25th] |
| 5v5 goals for % | 44.0% [24th] | 54.1% [13th] |
| 5v5 PDO | 98.7 [19th] | 102.1 [10th] |
| Power play | 27.5% [5th] | 20.6% [18th] |
| Penalty kill | 97.4% [1st] | 94.1% [2nd] |
| Head-to-head (2025–26) | 2–1–0 | 1–1–1 |
| Leading scorers · Goals–Assists–Points | ||
| Scorer #1 | Auston Matthews8–10–18 | Alexis Lafrenière7–6–13 |
| Scorer #2 | William Nylander6–9–15 | Adam Fox0–10–10 |
| Scorer #3 | Kirill Marchenko5–6–11 | Mika Zibanejad2–7–9 |
| Scorer #4 | Easton Cowan4–6–10 | Gabe Perreault4–3–7 |
| Scorer #5 | Jack Roslovic4–5–9 | J.T. Miller2–5–7 |
Maple Leafs Lines
Select a player name to view their card (must be on active NHL roster).
Forwards
| Line | Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 53Easton Cowan | 34Auston Matthews | 96Jack Roslovic |
| 2 | 86Kirill Marchenko | 20Nick Paul | 88William Nylander |
| 3 | 92Gavin McKenna | 15Colton Sissons | 71Vinni Lettieri |
| 4 | 24Brandon Duhaime | 73Teddy Blueger | 19Zack MacEwen |
| Scratch | 29Bo Groulx |
Defense
| Pair | Left Defense | Right Defense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22Jake McCabe | 43Darren Raddysh |
| 2 | 44Morgan Rielly | 28Troy Stecher |
| 3 | 83Marshall Rifai | 95Oliver Ekman-Larsson |
| Scratch | 3Nick Blankenburg |
Goaltenders
| 72Sergei Bobrovsky | Starter |
| 41Anthony Stolarz | Backup |
Injuries Or Other Absences
| Player | Status |
|---|---|
| 91John Tavares | Week-to-week injury |
| 8Chris Tanev | Week-to-week injury |
| 11Max Domi | Long-term Injury |
Rangers Projected Lines
Forwards
| Line | Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 94Gabe PerreaultPerreault | 93Mika ZibanejadZibanejad | 13Alexis LafrenièreLafrenière |
| 2 | 24Brennan OthmannOthmann | 10J.T. MillerMiller | 16Pavel DorofeyevDorofeyev |
| 3 | 50Will CuylleCuylle | 42Noah LabaLaba | 17Eeli TolvanenTolvanen |
| 4 | 28Oliver BjorkstrandBjorkstrand | 37Justin DowlingDowling | 14Taylor RaddyshRaddysh |
Defense
| Pair | Left Defense | Right Defense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44Vladislav GavrikovGavrikov | 23Adam FoxFox |
| 2 | 26Marcus PetterssonPettersson | 5Sean DurziDurzi |
| 3 | 12Adam SýkoraSmits | 4Braden SchneiderSchneider |
Goaltenders
| 33Dylan GarandGarand | Projected Starter |
| 41Spencer MartinMartin | Backup |
