Players to Watch: Maple Leafs vs Canadiens (10/12/22)
Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs
It's finally here! The 2022-23 NHL Regular Season has arrived. The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off the new campaign against one of their biggest rivals - The Montreal Canadiens. Both teams are coming into this season with incredibly different expectations. One thing that remains true year after year - you never know what will happen when these two clubs meet up.
Being the first game of the year, there are no stats to rely on to tell the story. So, we can just point to two guys making debuts for their respective clubs - one making his NHL (regular season) debut.
The #1 overall pick of the Montreal Canadiens this past summer, Juraj Slafkovský , is making his NHL Debut. Most people expected Shane Wright to be the top pick in the draft, but the Habs had different plans. Now he gets to show everyone why.
In blue, Matt Murray is making his regular season debut for the Maple Leafs. Toronto shook up their entire goaltending lineup by moving on from Jack Campbell and Petr Mrázek. In comes Matt Murray from Ottawa and Ilya Samsonov from Washington. Murray has the chance the be THE guy for the Leafs. But the goaltending duel will be an interesting story to follow this season.
That said, here are your three players to watch tonight in GAME 1 of 82!
Matt Murray
The time has come. Matt Murray's regular season debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs is tonight. They're facing the Montreal Canadiens. Leafs fans are going to fall into one of two camps - "Oh, the Habs suck. This should be an easy start for him!" OR "Oh, the Habs were last in the league last year. Obviously they're going to embarrass us on Opening Night so everyone can laugh at us." Which camp do I fall in? Well, a lady never tells! But when it comes to Matt Murray, he looked really solid in the preseason. Now it's the real season. Can he get it done?
Auston Matthews
The games matter now. That means the goals count. We all know Auston Matthews is a ridiculous hockey player that seems to make things happen at will. But, 60 goals isn't easy (even if he made it seem that way in 21-22). If he wants to surpass his total from last year and win yet another Rocket Richard Trophy, starting the scoring early in the season will take the pressure off down the stretch. Does he get one tonight? More than one? Anything is possible. That's why we watch!
Denis Malgin
Denis Malgin played his way on to the Opening Night Roster with a very strong Training Camp and preseason. That doesn't keep people around Leafs Nation from being skeptical about the production sticking around. Malgin is likely starting on the second line tonight with Tavares and Nylander. It's time for his campaign to change the minds of a lot of people.
Puck drops TONIGHT at 7pm EST.