Toronto Maple Leafs

And we're baaaaaaaaaaaack!!! Let's gooooooo!

The Maple Leafs return from the 4 Nations break looking to halt a run of five straight losses to the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Scotiabank Arena (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).

The Leafs‘ losing streak to the Hurricanes has a clear throughline: special teams. Toronto has outscored the Carolina 12-9 at five-on-five during this 0-4-1 stretch dating back to March 2023, but they’re 1-for-16 on the power play with a shorthanded goal against (i.e., net-zero on the man advantage) against the vaunted Canes PK, and just 11-for-17 on the penalty kill. Save for the last matchup in Carolina — when the Leafs built an early 2-0 lead and then fell apart — it’s resulted in the Leafs playing a lot of catch-up hockey, as they have been out-scored 7-2 in the first periods of those five games. source

Projected Lineup:

Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Max Domi -- Pontus Holmberg -- Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz -- David Kampf -- Alex Steeves

Morgan Rielly -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe-- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Conor Timmins

Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll

Scratched: Phillippe Myers, Ryan Reaves

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Max Pacioretty (tightness), Connor Dewar (upper body)

Status report: Jost is expected to return for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury Dec. 31. ... Pacioretty, a forward, is not expected to play after missing practice Friday. ... Dewar practiced in full on Friday but the forward will miss his eighth straight game; Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said Dewar could be available at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.