Montréal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
07:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena
Watch on: SN1, TVAS

The TV broadcast schedule for Sportsnet has the Leafs game on SN1, with the Blue Jays ADLS Game 4 on the main channel – older NHL schedules had the Leafs on the main channel. That Jays game is listed as a 6 pm start, but that includes a big pregame blather buffer while the official start time of the game is 7:08 pm. Both games will be on Sportsnet+ (non-premium version).

MLB.com lists the Jays game as on FS1 in the US. The Leafs game is listed on ESPN+ in the US.

Them

I don't think we got a serious look at the Canadiens in preseason, but they aren't dramatically different to last year. Lane Hutson is their best player, and they severely lack several skillsets at forward. They are as good as Monembeault is on any given night.

Lines

Eric Engels via Daily Faceoff from two days ago.

Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Juraj Slafkovský
Alex Newhook - Oliver Kapanen - Ivan Demidov
Zack Bolduc - Kirby Dach - Brendan Gallagher
Patrik Laine - Jake Evans - Josh Anderson

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

Sam Montembeault
Jakub Dobes

Joe Veleno and Jayden Struble are also on the roster.

Us

No new guys in the lineup tonight unless you count Cayden Primeau as backup. We should expect Sammy Blais to appear in a game after a few practices.

The lines below are from the most recent practice, with a vibe of "will the real fourth line stand up" about the bottom six. Cowan is not playing tonight.

There are no changes on defence from late last season, and even with new players and – stop me if you've heard this – no Mitch Marner, the only major change to the team structure is placement on the first power play unit.

Matias Maccelli got his spot on the top line on merit, but also by the simple fact that there is no one else. Even though his preseason was excellent, this is a big ask for him to take on this role.

This roster feels so unfinished, and I think the Leafs feel that way too, but will it be possible to add to it? Not in a hurry, I wouldn't think. I find myself not even trying to judge how the team will fare early this season, it's like trying to tell what colour the walls are before the paint is dry.

Wait and see.

Lines

David Alter via Daily Faceoff

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

The Game

Long opening introductions never make for great hockey games, but it does give us time to watch the first at bats of the Jays game.

Go Leafs/Jays Go!

Game Coverage