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Easton Cowan, Toronto Maple Leafs (David Kirouac-Imagn Images)

Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens Game Day Preview: Opening Night

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Spencer Lazary | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 2:56 PM ET

It’s finally here! The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens in their 2025-26 season opener, tonight at 7:00.

It has been a busy few days for NHL teams as they prepared their opening night rosters by the 5:00 p.m. deadline on Monday. Now that roster’s are set and the NHL season officially kicked off last night, the excitement around the city of Toronto has come alive and fans are ready to get going.

If you are new to this series, there will be a game day preview published every day there is a Maple Leafs game. It’ll including news and notes, team stats and the projected lineups for both clubs and of course, my score prediction. These will be followed up by game recaps and takeaway articles from the Maple Leafs team at The Hockey Writers.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into it.

Maple Leafs News:

The Maple Leafs have a bit of news to pass along. First, Jacob Quillan has been sent down their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Toronto Marlies. In a corresponding move, they have called up Easton Cowan. However, head coach Craig Berube has confirmed that he will be a healthy scratch in tonight’s game against the Canadiens.

In terms of injuries or non-roster players, Scott Laughton and Joseph Woll are both out of the lineup. Laughton was injured after blocking a shot in the first preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings and will miss some time. As for Woll, Maple Leafs’ general manager (GM) Brad Treliving spoke yesterday and said Woll is “progressing well” but there is no timeline for his return. He has been on a leave of absence since the beginning of training camp. This has some members of Leafs Nation question why Treliving used the term “progressing well” because he left the organization to deal with a personal matter, not an injury. Nevertheless, it is great to hear he is doing well.

It also looks like Philippe Myers and Sammy Blais will be healthy scratches tonight, based on early projections for the lineup. They are likely going to be the extra’s for the better part of the season. Which shouldn’t be overly surprising, but they likely be used in games coming up as the Maple Leafs have a handful of back-to-backs in the next few weeks.

Projected Lineups

(Subject to change before puck drop)

Toronto Maple Leafs

Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Matias Maccelli
Bobby McMann – John Tavares – William Nylander
Dakota Joshua – Max Domi – Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz – Nicolas Roy – Calle Järnkrok

Morgan Rielly – Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Simon Benoit

Anthony Stolarz
Cayden Primeau

Montreal Canadiens

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
Zach Bolduc – Kirby Dach – Brendan Gallagher
Alex Newhook – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson – Jake Evans – Patrik Laine

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Kaiden Guhle – Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier

Sam Montembeault
Jakob Dobes

As mentioned above, puck drop is at 7:00 tonight. These two bitter rivals are primed and ready to go, as are the fan bases. The chill is in the air, the leaves are falling, it is Autumn. Which can only truly mean one thing: hockey season is back!

As always in my game day previews, I will give my prediction for the score of tonight’s game. I have the Maple Leafs beating the Canadiens by a score of 5-3. Go Leafs Go!