The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing the Montreal Canadiens tonight, September 25, 2025. This will be the first time these teams have played each other during this year’s exhibition season.
The Maple Leafs head into Montreal with only a few NHL regulars, such as Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly, among others, staying back in Toronto. They will play an NHL-heavy Canadiens lineup.
Toronto Maple Leafs Line Combinations
Here are the forward combinations on September 25 against the Canadiens:
Loretz – Laughton – Cowan
McCann – Kampf – Maccelli
Joshua – Quillan – Letteri
Pezzetta – Groulx – Tverberg
Obviously, these combinations will allow the coaching staff to get a look at what Easton Cowan can do with increased ice time. This is his time to shine and prove what he can do when there isn’t a high-profile veteran around as a safety net.
Here are the defense pairings:
Mermis – Myers
Rifai – Thrun
Webber – Benning
Villeneuve
These defense pairings suggest that the coaching staff wants to see which of Henry Thrun, Philippe Myers, Matt Benning, and William Villeneuve steps up. All four of those blueliners are scratching and clawing for an NHL roster spot.
Maple Leafs goaltenders for tonight:
Hildeby
Peksa
Dennis Hildeby had a strong showing in the previous preseason game. He will be allowed to build on that for tonight’s contest.
Montreal Canadiens Line Combinations vs the Maple Leafs
To counter, here are the forward line combinations for the Canadiens:
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Demidov – Dach – Laine
Davidson – Mesar – Roy
Tuch – Xhekaj – Rohrer
The top six for the Canadiens are exclusively NHL regulars. Kirby Dach gets a look at the second-line center position, which is to be expected given that they haven’t made a trade for Mason McTavish (or anyone else). It will be interesting to see how Ivan Demidov and Patrik Laine fare with Dach as their pivot.
Here are the defense combinations:
Matheson – Dobson
Guhle – Reinbacher
Clurman – O’Rourke
This isn’t the first time that fans have seen Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson as the team’s top pairing. This will likely be what they start the regular season with, so it makes sense to have them collect reps together in the preseason.
Montreal goalies for tonight:
Montembeault
Fowler
Sam Montembeault is the expected starter for tonight’s game.
Easton Cowan Ready for a Challenge
Head coach Craig Berube spoke with the media after the morning skate, before the team travelled to Montreal for the game.
Luke Fox reported on X something the coach said about Cowan.
“Cowan’s lookin’ sharp,” Berube quipped. “He’s got energy. Just watching him out there in some of those battle drills, he’s such a competitor. You know, he’s a lot stronger than you think.”
As far as drills are concerned, the youngster hit the ice before everyone else this morning.
Additionally, Berube was asked about what he needs to do to make the team. He had a vague but straightforward answer.
“I can’t answer that question….” Berube deflected. “I’d be putting him in a bad spot, us in a bad spot, everybody in a bad spot by saying what he has to do to make the team.”
“Just keep playing. We’ll make decisions with time.”
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