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The Canadiens face a tough test to start the season today with a matchup against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
Tonight sees the Maple Leafs playing their first game without Mitch Marner, who was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade deal during the offseason.
Send us your thoughts on the game at live@theathletic.com.
The Montreal Canadiens had a breakthrough season in 2024-25, reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They lost to the Capitals in five games in the first round, but it was still a massive step forward in Montreal's rebuild.
The future looks bright for the Canadiens as the four players with the most points on the team – Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovský – were all 25 years of age or younger last season.
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Reader Mathew B. has written in to give us his prediction for tonight's game.
💬 Montreal always plays the Leafs tough in the season opener…. and that’s been with some pretty bad teams. The Canadiens seem better off than last year when you look at whom they’ve added as well as who is healthy. I’m going with a 3-1 Montreal win to start the season. Montembeault with 34 saves along with goals from Caufield, Kapanen, and Dobson.
Do you agree with Mathew's take? What's your prediction for this one? Let us know by emailing us at live@theathletic.com!
This is the lineup the Leafs ended camp with, the one that head coach Craig Berube rejigged in the aftermath of Scott Laughton’s injury. The big shakeup was Berube moving Max Domi back to centre from top-line right wing. The Leafs coach believed Domi was his best option in the middle without Laughton. In his estimation, having Domi there, on a line with Nick Robertson and Dakota Joshua, would boost the offensive depth of the lineup. One side effect of that decision: Maccelli getting his first look next to Auston Matthews on the top line. It’s a major leap into primetime for the 24-year-old.
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By Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman
In the immediate wake of yet another playoff loss, many long-tenured Maple Leafs offered the same company line: Pressure is a privilege.
If that’s true, the privilege of wearing the blue-and-white only grows with each year of disappointment. This season, the first since 2015-16 without Mitch Marner, is no exception.
The Canadiens will start Sam Montembeault in net tonight and will have their most balanced lineup they’ve had in years for the traditional season-opening game against the Leafs. After Nick Suzuki’s line, the other three lines could be placed in just about any order. It will also be the Canadiens debut for their two big offseason acquisitions Noah Dobson and Zack Bolduc. Here’s how they should line up tonight:
By Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman
Ahead of the last few seasons, it was standard to wonder which Atlantic Division team would be the first to exit its rebuild and look like a true-blue postseason team.
The answer, technically, was the Ottawa Senators, who finished with 97 points and clinched a playoff berth with four games left in the regular season.
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It's only the second day of the 2025-26 NHL season, but it’s never too early to start thinking ahead to potential Stanley Cup champions.
For the second year in a row, the Oilers are entering the season as one of the top Stanley Cup favorites (+800) at BetMGM. Right there with Edmonton at the top of the favorites list are the Golden Knights (+800) after their big offseason score to add Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with the Maple Leafs.
The Hurricanes (+850), Avalanche (+850) and Stars (+900) round out the top five favorites, while the Maples Leafs are +1600 and the Canadiens are +5000.
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NHL 2025-26 Stanley Cup playoff chances and projected standings
A Canadian franchise hasn’t claimed the Cup since the Canadiens did so in 1993. Since then, eight Cup Final series have featured a Canadian team, with more than half of them — the Canucks (1994, 2011), Flames (2004) and Oilers (2006, 2024) — losing in Game 7s.
The Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy with the NHL’s most points last season, and the Canadiens, Oilers, Senators and Maple Leafs also made playoff appearances.
Hope is high that this could be the season the drought ends, but with it comes expectations and pressure for a team from hockey’s home to get the Cup back to where many think it belongs.
After three games opened the NHL season last night, we've got another four on tap tonight.
7 p.m. ET – Canadiens at Maples Leafs
7:30 p.m. ET – Bruins at Capitals
10 p.m. ET – Flames at Oilers
10 p.m. ET – Kings at Golden Knights
The Canadiens and Maple Leafs are set to open their seasons against one another for the sixth straight year and 23rd time overall. That's the highest total in NHL history and nearly double the next-closest set of opponents (Canucks and Flames).
Here's how the opener ended each of the past five seasons:
The eagled-eyed among you will have noticed that the home team won each of those five meetings – a good omen for the Maple Leafs tonight.
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We’d love to hear from you before today’s game.
Who’s going to come out on top later? Which game did you most enjoy last night? And who do you think will lift the Stanley Cup at the end of the season?
Let us know by emailing live@theathletic.com.
In the U.S. you can watch the game on ESPN+. (Sign in on ESPN+ with your Fubo account.)
In Canada the game will air on Sportsnet One. It can be streamed on Sportsnet+.
Tonight’s game will start at 7 p.m. ET. It will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena.
The new NHL season started yesterday with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers beating Chicago 3-2 on a third-period goal by Jesper Boqvist.
Elsewhere, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 behind two goals from Martin Necas, and the Pittsburgh Penguins shut out the New York Rangers 3-0, led by two goals from Justin Brazeau.
Now it’s Canada’s turn to join the party.
Join us as we begin counting down to today’s game and don’t forget that you can get involved throughout by emailing live@theathletic.com.