On September 25th, 2021, the Toronto Maple Leafs will begin their pre-season schedule. Their pre-season will start off the same way as their regular season with a game against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Toronto Maple Leafs first pre-season game will be much different than the first regular season game. Both rosters will have a group of players or prospects who will not be on the main rosters come opening night.
When Toronto plays Montreal on October 3rd in their second to last pre-season game, that game will give fans a better look at what to expect on October 13th. The training camp rosters will be trimmed down and the teams will be working on line chemistry.
For the Leafs it will be interesting to see who ends up playing on the left wing next to Auston Matthews to start the season. With that in mind, here is a complete look at Toronto’s October schedule.
Toronto Maple Leafs October Schedule
As previously mentioned, the Toronto Maple Leafs will begin their regular season at home on October 13th against the Montreal Canadiens. This will be their first meaningful game against each other since Montreal beat Toronto in round one of the 2021 NHL playoffs.
Toronto will then play the next night (October 14th) against their provincial rivals, the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa. This will be the first game of a home-and-home series between Ottawa and Toronto. The second game will be played on October 16th in Toronto.
Next up on the schedule is a home game against the New York Rangers. This will be the first time the Toronto Maple Leafs will play an American team since they lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2020 NHL playoffs. This will be the first time Toronto plays the Rangers since February 5th, 2020.
After three days off since the game against the Rangers, Toronto will then host the San Jose Sharks on October 22nd. The Leafs and Sharks have not played each other since March 3rd, 2020. This will also be the first game of a back to back for Toronto.
The next night (October 23rd) the Leafs will be in Pittsburgh to play Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. The last time these two teams might was a home and home series in February, 2020. The Leafs won the last meeting by a score of 4-0.
On October 25th, Toronto will be in Carolina to play the Hurricanes. This will be the first time that former Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen will play thr Leafs after being with them for five seasons. It could also be the first time that Toronto’s new goaltender Petr Mrazek plays his former team as well. Mrazek spent the last three seasons with the Hurricanes before signing with Toronto this off-season.
Next up on the schedule for the Toronto Maple Leafs will be a game against this Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago. These two original six teams have not played each other since January 18th, 2020. I will be good to see Matthews versus Patrick Kane once again.
The final game of the month for Toronto will see them host the Detroit Red Wings. This will be the first meeting between these two teams since December 21st, 2019. That game was also in Toronto and the Leafs were 4-1 winners. Many things have changed for both teams since then. It will be good to see both of these original six teams renew their long history.