Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
How to watch
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
Streaming: NHL.tv/NHL Live, Sportsnet Now
When the Canadiens last met, it was a meaningless game before the playoffs began to get everyone back up to game speed; a chance to leverage the rivalry to get fans engaged for what would be a two-month post-season. Tonight’s game will be a different affair, with two points on the line, and the promise of many more matches — nine more to be exact — between the two squads over the next four months.
The Canadiens are a much-improved squad, with young players from the surprising playoff run brimming with confidence, and now surrounded by a great crop of offensive weapons. Nick Suzuki will have Josh Anderson flying down the ice to his right, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi has the finishing ability of Tyler Toffoli on his left. Even Jake Evans, who impressed so much in limited action last year to claim an NHL centre role, gets wingers who could comfortably slot into several teams’ top-six alignments.
They’ll all be backed by a few new faces on the blue line, notably Alexander Romanov who will make his NHL debut after we had two years of watching his exploits on the international stage. His skill set has given the coaching staff some new tools to play with, and tonight we’ll see how the adjustments translate to all game situations as the club embarks on a 56-game regular season.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #90 Tomas Tatar |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #92 Jonathan Drouin |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #73 Tyler Toffoli |
#15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #41 Paul Byron |
#71 Jake Evans |
#62 Artturi Lehkonen |
Defencemen
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Ben Chiarot |
#6 Shea Weber |
| #44 Joel Edmundson |
#26 Jeff Petry |
| #77 Brett Kulak |
#27 Alexander Romanov |
Goaltenders
| Starter |
Backup |
| #31 Carey Price |
#34 Jake Allen |
Toronto Maple Leafs projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Joe Thornton |
Auston Matthews |
Mitch Marner |
| Jimmy Vesey |
John Tavares |
William Nylander |
| Ilya Mikheyev |
Alex Kerfoot |
Zach Hyman |
| Alex Barabanov |
Jason Spezza |
Wayne Simmonds |
Defencemen
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Morgan Rielly |
T.J. Brodie |
| Jake Muzzin |
Justin Holl |
| Travis Dermott |
Zach Bogosian |
Goaltenders
| Starter |
Backup |
| Frederik Anderson |
Jack Campbell |
