The New York Rangers are off to a strong start with three wins under their belt this season. But the Toronto Maple Leafs are keeping pace, also tallying three victories, with superstar Auston Matthews leading the charge.
The Rangers will face off against the Maple Leafs on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST in Toronto, continuing their run of intense Original Six matchups. Matthews, a key figure for Toronto, is the player to watch as we break down his game and potential influence on the Blueshirts.
Toronto enters the contest with a 3-1-0 record, while the Rangers are just ahead at 3-0-1. This will be their first meeting of the season, after the Maple Leafs edged out the regular-season series 2-1 in 2023-24.
While team records are close, Auston Matthews remains the central figure for the Rangers to watch ahead of the October 19 clash. His presence could be a game-changer for Toronto.
Auston Matthews
Although one of the Maple Leafs’ most effective lines lately has been the trio of Max Domi, William Nylander and Bobby McMann. Since being put together, this line has generated impressive speed and offensive chances. Nylander has been a standout, with a goal and an assist in the game against the Kings. Domi added two assists, and McMann scored two goals.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that Matthews is coming off a career-best season in 2023-24 where he posted 107 points across 81 games, tallying 69 goals and 38 assists.
He also succeeded John Tavares to become the 26th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Aug. 14, 2024. He was the first United States-born player to be captain in the franchise’s 107-year history and the second non-Canadian player to hold the role.
Last season he also made history. On March 30, 2024, he became a two-time 60-goal scorer in the NHL in a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres. Also by the end of the 2023-24 year, his 69 goals allowed him to become the first player with at least that many in one season since Mario Lemieux scored 69 in 70 games of the 1995-96 season.
During his younger days, the Arizona native was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
However, he is having a somewhat slow start to the current season. He has played in all four games played but has only notched three points off of one goal and two assists.
Rangers Projected Starting Lineup
Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Reilly Smith
Will Cuylle – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Adam Edstrom – Sam Carrick – Jonny Brodzinski
K’Andre Miller – Adam Fox
Braden Schneider – Jacob Trouba
Zac Jones – Victor Mancini
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Also noteworthy are Matt Rempe and Ryan Reaves who are expected to be in their team’s respective lineups when puck drops in Toronto.
Maple Leafs Projected Starting Lineup
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann – Max Domi – William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg – John Tavares – Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves
Morgan Rielly – Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Jake McCabe
Simon Benoit – Conor Timmins
Anthony Stolarz
Dennis Hildeby
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