Toronto Maple Leafs Host Detroit Red Wings, Auston Matthews Out

The Toronto Maple Leafs (7-5-2) host the Detroit Red Wings(6-5-1) for the annual Hall of Fame Game at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night. It’s been a topsy-turvy season for both teams so far, as the Red Wings come into Toronto on a two-game winning streak. They lost three straight before that, won three, lost two, and split their first two games of the year, so based on the pattern, maybe it’ll be a big night for the Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs come off an impressive 4-0 victory over Boston on Tuesday but have had a hard time stringing complete games together. The puck drops at 7:25 pm EST, however, the Hall of Fame inductees will have a ceremony before the game so make sure to tune in early.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Captain Out, Placed On IR

After missing Tuesday’s game against the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has officially been placed on Injured Reserve, retroactive to Nov. 3, per Leafs PR Twitter account. According to coach Craig Berube, he’s been dealing with this injury for the majority of the season. “He’s doing ok,” Berube said. “It’s still a day-to-day thing.”

Without Matthews on Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs played one of their better games of the season. Not only that, they scored three power play goals. Until Tuesday they had only scored four. Without Matthews, the Leafs have a bizarre 36-19-2 record. They hope that continues this weekend, as their captain isn’t eligible to return until next Tuesday against Ottawa.

Anthony Stolarz Between the Pipes on Friday

Since Friday is the first game of a back-to-back, the whole city was speculating on who will be getting the start and on which nights. Because what else is there to talk about in Toronto? We now know Anything Stolarz will get his second consecutive start, showing that until he or Woll proves otherwise, Stolarz is the man for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 6-foot-6 goaltender stopped 29 shots for his ninth career shutout on Tuesday, and statistically, is one of the best goalies in the NHL so far this season.

Stolarz has played only one game against Detroit in his career, which was also a shutout, beating them as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2016. Not much has changed in Detroit since then, as they have yet to make the playoffs since the 2015-16 season. They are 6-5-1 so far in 24-25, a year with serious playoff aspirations.

They are 29th in the NHL in goals per game, but with the players they have, it is safe to assume that will turn around at some point. The more impressive thing for Detroit is that they are eighth in the NHL in goals against per game, which was a major concern for them last year. Cam Talbot will be Stolarz’s counterpart between the pipes, who is 4-1-1 on the season, with a 2.45 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.

Final Thoughts

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be honoring the Hall of Fame Class of 24-25 on Friday night, and for two of the new members, there is a small Toronto Maple Leafs connection. Defenseman Morgan Rielly remembers Pavel Datsyuk from his first year in the league. “The one thing that jumps out is Randy Carlyle aggressively trying to keep me off the ice when Datsyuk was on the ice my first season,” Rielly said. “I was fine with it. It was a little demoralizing though.”

The other connection is from coach Craig Berube, who said he’s happy to see his friend Jeremy Roenick get into the Hall. “We’ve had a few run-ins through the years. He sucker-punched me one time. The refs had me. Never got the opportunity to really get him back. There’s still time though.”

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