Here We Go, Toronto Maple Leafs Open Season in Montreal
It has been 158 days since fans have been able to see Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs in a meaningful game. That last game ended in yet another spring heartbreak when David Pastrňák recovered a hard dump-in to slide the puck past a flat footed Ilya Samsonov, lifting the Boston Bruins to a Game 7 victory in the first round of the Easter Conference finals.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will now fly into Montreal to take on the Canadiens after a heated match during pre-season that has left star winger Patrik Laine out for a couple of months.
The two teams met three times during the 2023-24 season with the Leafs coming out victorious in each of the contests. The two clubs kicked off last year's season on October 11 against each other that required the Leafs to come back late in the third period thanks to an Auston Matthews hattrick that led to a shootout where Mitch Marner would score the only goal of the skills contest.
The two teams would have to wait until March to meet again where the Maple Leafs would take both the second and third games by scores of 3-2 and 4-2. An interesting fact, Samsonov earned the win in each and every contest.
Timothy Liljegren and Bobby McMann are surprising scratches
It appears as though both Bobby McMann and Timothy Liljegren will be healthy scratched for the first game of the season. Liljegren signed a two-year contract this past summer that carries a $3 Million cap hit and becomes a very expensive pressbox viewer.
It is not clear if he is going to be filling this role for a while, but my expectation is that coach Craig Berube still wants to see Connor Timmins (26), Liljegren (25) and Philippe Myers (27) battle out for a bottom pairing spot.
Liljegren has three seasons and almost 200 games of being a successful NHL defenseman - winning his minutes by goals and expected goals in all three seasons. Also, last year his most common linemate was Auston Matthews, meaning that Liljegren didn't just dine out on easy minutes.
McMann who has become a fan favourite after going undrafted and signing in the ECHL before earning time in the AHL finally has grinded his way into an NHL contract. McMann had a slow start to training camp after coming off surgery from last season. The Wainwright, Alberta native has shown he can be an effective power forward who went through a stretch of scoring 13 goals over a 26 game span.
Don't expect McMann to be out of the line-up long as I think he will likely draw into some ice-time on Thursday night. Neither Max Pacioretty or Ryan Reaves are suited to play all 82 games this upcoming season, so I believe one of those players is likely a healthy scratch on Thursday. When you add in those three players cycling in and out, along with the likelihood of injuries, McMann should see a lot of opportunity.
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The game is scheduled for 7PM EST on Sportsnet.