The Maple Leafs held a media availability on Saturday at the Ford Performance Centre.
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The Leafs did not like their performance in Friday’s 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. The league-leading Colorado Avalanche will be visiting Scotiabank Arena on Sunday. So, why did the team cancel Saturday’s practice?
“Played yesterday,” coach Craig Berube said. “Play tomorrow, practice Monday [and then] play Tuesday. That’s why.”
The Leafs are struggling to keep pace in the playoff race and the schedule is unrelenting.
“There’s been certain times in games, and not the full game, but we look like we lack some energy,” Berube said.
After a pause, the coach cut off a follow-up question and continued his answer.
“But that’s not an excuse,” he stressed. “Like, I mean, that’s mental for me. You got to fight through it. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses for our team or myself. We got to grind through it. This is what I talk about. We gotta grind. It’s a grinding time and grind through it.”
Toronto has dropped the first three games (0-2-1) of a crucial five-game homestand.
“It’s a lot of hockey,” said captain Auston Matthews, who has finished minus-one in all three games this week. “It’s obviously a grind right now. It’s a grind for everybody. I mean, there’s no excuses. We’ve got to find a way to find that jump and that energy within our group for a full 60 minutes.”
It’s not getting any easier. The Leafs will play six games in five different cities over the next 10 days heading into the Olympic break.
“The schedule and everything, we don’t want to use that as an excuse,” said defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “But I think you got to realize maybe you have to simplify it a little bit and obviously chipping pucks in and doing the little things.”
The Leafs seemed to be doing a lot of those little things well during a recent 2-1-1 road trip, which included a win in Denver.
“Sometimes when you come home, you want to be a little bit too cute,” Ekman-Larsson said.
Toronto entered Saturday’s slate of games trailing the Boston Bruins by three points in the race for the final Wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“The position we’re in right now, we have to be a little bit more desperate than what we were in the third period and come out with a little bit more jump,” Ekman-Larsson said.
After falling behind 4-1 on Friday night, the Leafs pulled within one goal thanks to a frantic second period comeback. But then Toronto got outshot 14-5 and outscored 2-0 in the final frame.
Matthews, who has been held without a point in consecutive games for the first time since before Christmas, blames poor execution.
“When you’re chasing it a lot and turning pucks over and spending more time in your D zone, obviously it all kind of wears down on you throughout the game,” Matthews noted.
“We make the game harder on ourselves at times when we don’t need to,” Berube added.
With an afternoon start (1:30 p.m.) on Sunday, the Leafs will not hold a morning skate.
On Monday, the Leafs will host their annual open-to-the-public practice. It is usually held outside at a community rink, but this year will be indoors at the Mattamy Athletic Centre due to the cold and snowy weather expected. Nonetheless, it won’t be a regular workout. Instead, it will feature a 3-on-3 tournament with WWE stars involved as guest coaches.
The Leafs will host the surging Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
Wednesday will be a travel day as the team heads out West where they will open a four-game trip against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
With no real practice time on the horizon, how can the coaching staff ensure the team’s structure remains sharp.
“It’s hard,” Berube admitted. “It’s video, right? We watch video and look at it and look at our structure in video.”
‘It’s a grinding time’: Berube cancels practice as Leafs struggle to find energy Coming off a 6-3 loss to the Golden Knights, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube explains why he cancelled practice Saturday, while the Leafs discuss the importance of trying to find energy amid a tough schedule.
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William Nylander returned to the ice on Saturday for the first time since aggravating a groin injury during a game on Jan. 15 in Las Vegas.
“We’ll see where he progresses and how he felt,” Berube said. “I haven’t talked to the trainers yet or him after the skate. We’ll see how he felt. Hopefully he can keep getting on the ice here and be ready to go. I can’t give you a timeline on that yet.”
Nylander spent about 20 minutes on the ice working with Denver Manderson from the team’s player development staff.
“You can definitely see he’s desperate to get out there and get on the ice,” Matthews said. “He’s taking his time, though, as well, and being smart and making sure that he feels like he’s ready to go and go full tilt when he’s back and playing. So, yeah, it’s been good. It’s good to see him on the ice for sure.”
Despite missing 14 games this season, Nylander continues to lead the Leafs in scoring with 48 points.
“I’m sure it’s tough,” Ekman-Larsson said. “You want to play, you want to help your team, but sometimes you got to listen to your body. You got to manage it and be smart about it at the same time so you don’t miss even more games. But, yeah, I’m sure it’s tough for him. We want him back and he’s a big part of this organization.”
Leafs Ice Chips: Nylander back on the ice, but no timeline available yet There was some good news on the Maple Leafs’ injury front Saturday as William Nylander was back on the ice for the first time since aggravating a groin injury on Jan. 15 in Las Vegas. TSN’s Mark Masters has more.
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Dakota Joshua joined Nylander for the session on Saturday. It was the winger’s first skate since suffering a lacerated kidney during a game in Detroit on Dec. 28.
“I know he skated, but he’s still a ways away,” Berube said. “It’s not like he’s close.”
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The Leafs fell behind 2-0 early on Friday night against a Golden Knights team that had played the previous night in Boston.
“It’s been tough to find that energy, especially early on in games,” said Matthews. “Last night was just another example. We just came out flat. They were obviously ready to go.”
The Knights seemed to draw inspiration from the return of Mitch Marner to Toronto.
“He’s one of our own,” said Vegas captain Mark Stone, who scored twice, including an empty-net goal. “We play for each other. We always have, we always will. It’s the motto of our locker room. So we definitely wanted to win it. I wanted to win it for him.”
The Leafs, meanwhile, downplayed the return of Marner, who spent nine seasons with the franchise before opting to leave Toronto this past summer via a sign-and-trade deal.
Longest-serving Leaf Morgan Rielly called it “just another game” on Friday morning. An important game in terms of gathering points, the defenceman said, but not more so than any other game right now.
But it did feel different in the building as Marner was booed every time he touched the puck. He also received a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period.
“That’s kind of what you expected,” Matthews said. “It was nice that there were some cheers for him during the video tribute and all that stuff. I think it was kind of done the right way. You know that there’s going to be the boos when he’s on the ice and has the puck and all that stuff like that. I think it’s pretty expected. You’ve kind of seen it with other guys who have been in similar situations and stuff like that. I thought it was a good atmosphere. It was fun.”
Marner admitted to feeling relieved afterwards. “I don’t have to talk about it anymore,” he said with a grin. “I’m sure those guys are relieved not having to talk about it too.”
Marner admitted to feeling relieved afterwards. “I don’t have to talk about it anymore,” he said with a grin. “I’m sure those guys are relieved not having to talk about it too.”
‘He’s one of our own’: Stone, Knights were motivated to win for Marner Golden Knights captain Mark Stone shares how motivated the team was to get the win for Mitch Marner in his return to Toronto, while Marner explains how much he appreciates the effort from his teammates.
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After the game, Marner acknowledged that he anticipated being booed.
“It was fine,” he said. “I knew it was going to come. Yeah, the cheering when I was going off was pretty funny. I didn’t see that one coming. The booing, when I had it, was what I expected. I just tried to play through it, play with the puck, play my game and do my thing out there.”
“A little bit of boos here and there, but it wasn’t too loud, if I’m honest with you,” said defenceman Rasmus Andersson, who made his Knights debut on Saturday.
“The fans were great,” said Stone. “Gave him a great ovation that he deserved… Once the puck dropped you’re expecting boos, but they tipped their cap to what he did for this organization, which was awesome to see.”
Bruce Cassidy on Mitch Marner’s return:
“The Leafs handled it very well. It was a great tribute & I think the fans came around in the end. There were some that voiced their displeasure … I thought he handled it well & the fans did”@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 24, 2026
Marner did not hit the scoresheet on Saturday and finished with one shot on net and one takeaway in 17 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time.
“It was interesting the whole night,” Marner said. “I really appreciated the love and support throughout the tribute video. I still got a lot of love for these fans.”
Matthews on Marner’s return to Toronto: ‘Nice that there were some cheers’ Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews discusses the reception Mitch Marner received in his return to Toronto Friday night and says he’s happy that Leafs Nation gave him some cheers.
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If the Leafs didn’t draw motivation from Marner’s return, they could have tried to rally around Anthony Stolarz, who returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 11.
“It’s concerning,” centre Scott Laughton said of the lack of urgency. “They come in off probably a late night. We know how that feels. Stolie’s first game in a month, two months, and that’s what we put up.”
Stolarz, who had been dealing with what he called a “nerve” issue, allowed five goals on 30 shots and showed signs of rust while adjusting to the speed of the game.
“You can obviously do your best to replicate that in practice, but once you get out there in a game at the NHL level, the tempo of the play is a lot quicker,” Stolarz noted. “And, especially early on, I was a little behind. As the game wore on, I kind of thought I got a little more comfortable.”
“We still got to get him going,” Berube said. “He hasn’t had a lot of work yet, right? And, again, it’s hard because we don’t practice a whole lot.”
Stolarz went down to the American Hockey League for a couple practices with the Toronto Marlies earlier in the week as part of a conditioning stint.
“A few days ago I started to feel really good,” the 32-year-old said. “Having the opportunity to go down with the Marlies and get those full practices in, kind of a little longer than our practices are … I felt really good after that. So I thought it was time to get activated and come back.”
Why didn’t Stolarz play a game in the AHL to shake off the understandable rust he showed on Friday?
“That’s not my call,” Berube said.
Joseph Woll, who beat the Avalanche earlier this month, will get the start on Sunday.
‘Got to get him going’: Leafs looking to get Stolarz up to speed following long layoff After returning against the Golden Knights Friday night, Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who had been out since Nov. 11 with an upper-body injury, talks about trying to shake the rust off and get back up the speed following a long layoff.
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After leaving Wednesday’s game early with a lower-body injury, Ekman-Larsson played a game high 24 minutes and 11 seconds on Friday.
“You want to make sure that it’s nothing too bad and you’re going to miss a bunch of games,” Ekman-Larsson said. “I felt good the next day and was able to play. So, it was good.”
Ekman-Larsson has suited up in all 51 games for the Leafs this season.
“Just to have guys that put it all out there and sacrificing for the team, it obviously means a lot,” Matthews said. “It definitely doesn’t go unnoticed. He’s battling out there. He plays a lot of minutes for us, plays against top lines, and plays in every single situation. He’s obviously very important, so it’s great to have him out there.”
John Tavares is the only other Leaf to play in every game.
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On Sunday afternoon, the Leafs will be looking to replicate their effort from earlier this month in Denver when they beat the Avalanche 4-3 in overtime.
“We played really good defensively,” Berube recalled. “I mean, If you’re not checking well against that team, you’re going to be on your heels most of the game. I thought that we did a good job of that. I thought that we managed the puck very well against them. We talked about that. You know, you can’t be turning pucks over against that team because they counter.”
“They transition so well,” said Matthews. “I thought we took care of pucks. We didn’t turn many pucks over.”
The Avalanche dropped four of five home games dating back to that loss to the Leafs. Colorado fell 7-3 to the Flyers on Friday night. Philadelphia scored four times in the third period.
“I don’t know if we were just looking for offence, and nobody wanted to play defence,” defenceman Cale Makar told reporters. “We’ll definitely take a look at it, because unacceptable for the most part.”
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Berube sustained a black eye and a cut on his forehead courtesy of a gym accident on Thursday. That didn’t stop him from getting behind the Leafs bench on Friday night.
“We knew he’s a tough guy but, yeah, that’s impressive,” Ekman-Larsson said. “That’s a good scar. I’m just happy that he’s doing good.”
Berube insists he’s feeling fine and didn’t deal with much discomfort on Friday night.
“I’m sure it looks a lot worse than it feels,” Matthews said. “I mean, he’s obviously pretty tough. But, yeah, it was pretty crazy coming to the rink yesterday and seeing that. Obviously a very tough customer, so I’m glad he’s alright.”
Berube revealed he needed close to 50 stitches to close the cut. What’s the most stitches he ever got during his playing days?
“I can’t really remember,” he said. “I mean, not close to that, though. This is the highest.”
Berube has declined to reveal exactly what happened in the weight room that caused the injury, at least with the media.
“I talked to a good friend of mine today, and we played together for a number of years, and he was a real good NHL player, he did the same thing I did,” Berube said with a laugh. “So, I actually feel better. Put a smile on my face today.”
‘Tough customer’ Berube feeling fine after gym accident; needed close to 50 stitches Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube says he’s feeling fine after his gym accident and reveals that he required close to 50 stitches. Meanwhile, the Leafs discuss Berube’s accident and explain that they always knew he was a “tough customer”.
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Lines to start Friday’s game:
McMann – Matthews – Domi
Maccelli – Tavares – Knies
Cowan – Roy – Robertson
Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok
Rielly – Carlo
Ekman-Larsson – McCabe
Benoit – Stecher
Stolarz
Woll