How to watch
Game 1: Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+, TVAS+
The Canadiens put together a strong pre-season, even though they were unable to ice a full NHL lineup with a couple of split-squad days. The season-opener will be the first time the main roster hits the ice together, with everyone aiming to be better than they were a year ago.
It will be Chris Kreider’s first meaningful game in a Canadiens jersey, and he’s the only new member of the team from its playoff run in the spring. Toronto has a number of additions, with Sergei Bobrovsky in net and Gavin McKenna making his NHL debut after being selected first overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. Toronto will hope that yesterday’s acquisition, Kirill Marchenko, will also be in, but that will depend on how quickly his visa situation is sorted out.
Toronto will turn to Bobrovsky to slow down a Habs offence that ranked among the NHL’s best in 2025-26. He hasn’t been able to do that the past three times he’s faced Montreal however, going 0-3 over the past two years with a total of 11 goals surrendered. The first few games of a new season tend to be high-scoring affairs anyway, so we’ll find out which club can put more goals on the board this evening.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#22 Chris Kreider |
| #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
#15 Alex Newhook |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #85 Alexandre Texier |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#77 Kirby Dach |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc |
#71 Jake Evans |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#72 Arber Xhekaj |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeš |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
Injured: Kaiden Guhle
Scratched: Adam Engström, Oliver Kapanen, Florian Xhekaj
Toronto Maple Leafs projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Kirill Marchenko |
Auston Matthews |
Jack Roslovic |
| Gavin McKenna |
John Tavares |
William Nylander |
| Easton Cowan |
Nick Paul |
Colton Sissons |
| Brandon Duhaime |
Teddy Blueger |
Zack MacEwen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Morgan Rielly |
Darren Raddysh |
| Jake McCabe |
Chris Tanev |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson |
Troy Stecher |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
Anthony Stolarz |
