The Maple Leafs held a practice at the Ford Performance Centre on Friday before travelling to Detroit.

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Auston Matthews did not register a shot during 5-on-5 play as Toronto’s top line struggled to gain traction in Wednesday night’s regular season opener against the Montreal Canadiens.

“It was OK,” Matthews said of his line’s performance. “It was kind of a sloppier game and not a whole lot of rhythm in general, but a lot that we can get better at and just continue to communicate and take steps in the right direction.”

Matthews’ only shot during the 5-2 victory came late in the third period when he tapped a William Nylander area pass into an empty net.

Newcomer Matias Maccelli, who is slotting in on the right side of the top line to start the season, did not register a shot while left winger Matthew Knies recorded just two. Knies did set up the game-winning goal by Morgan Rielly in the third period with Maccelli picking up the second assist.

Shot attempts favoured the Canadiens 10-7 in the 10:31 of ice time that Matthews, Maccelli and Knies played together, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

“I liked some of the shifts they had,” coach Craig Berube said. “Like in the second [period] where they had the possession of the puck quite a bit and moved it around and stuff. It’s not always a goal, but just some good possession time and some puck movement was good.”

Matthews and Mitch Marner formed a dynamic duo in recent years on Toronto’s top line, but the 102-point winger is now in Vegas and there is no obvious candidate to fill his skates. Maccelli, who was limited to 18 points in 55 games last season with Utah, is getting the first chance and the early returns are mixed.

“When they did get pucks back on the forecheck, I think we can hang on to pucks a little bit more,” Berube said. “We tried a quick play a few times, it got turned over, and we’re out of the zone. I liked the second period, some of the shifts, I want to see more of that with the possession and things like that, but it’s early. They’re going to have to work and find some chemistry.”

The work continued at Friday’s practice.

“Auston likes to give and go a lot, you know, quick touches,” Maccelli observed. “Kind of noticed that a little more, especially today in practice. We worked on it a little bit.”

What is Maccelli looking for?

“Especially in O-zone, you know, once we get going a little bit, try to open up for a little give and go,” the 24-year-old Finn said. “And after that try to get some one-timers, and stuff like that, around the net going.”

“Just moving off the puck,” Matthews said. “I think supporting each other better. I just thought offensively we didn’t have as much time of possession or zone time as we would have liked, but I know we’re all capable of that.”

Matthews is traditionally a hot starter. Wednesday’s goal was his 13th in a season-opening game, which tied Alex Ovechkin for the most among active players.

Prior to Wednesday’s one-shot performance, Matthews averaged 5.7 shots in his season openers.

“First game, it’s not going to be perfect right away,” Matthews stressed. “You just want to take steps in the right direction.”

Maccelli readily admits he’s never played on a line with this much talent. Matthews, in particular, is a special player with three Rocket Richard Trophies already on his resume not to mention a Hart Trophy.

“You can put it to his wheelhouse or you can put it a little on the side, it doesn’t really matter,” Maccelli marveled. “He’ll get it done.

“We’re just building from here.”

After sloppy Leafs opener, Matthews, Maccelli work on give-and-go chemistry Despite the opening night win for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday against the Canadiens, Auston Matthews felt it was ‘kind of a sloppier game,’ but added it left room for improvement for the top line. The key for Matthews, Matthew Knies and Matias Maccelli will be developing chemistry. Maccelli has already noticed Matthews preference for the give-and-go.

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Berube initially planned to start Max Domi on the top line. There was built-in chemistry between Matthews and Domi from when they played together on a line late in the 2023-24 season. In particular, Matthews liked how their give-and-go game worked.

Berube was reluctant to push Maccelli into a prominent role as he adapted to a new team and rebuilt his confidence following a tough year in Utah. Maccelli finished last season as a healthy scratch.

But an injury to veteran centre Scott Laughton led the coach to change course and move Domi to the middle of the third line. Laughton is out week-to-week after blocking a shot with his foot in a pre-season game on Oct. 2. He was spotted wearing a walking boot on Friday.

Berube called Maccelli over for a chat before Friday’s practice.

“I want him to feel more confident,” Berube said. “He’s a good player. He’s got abilities, so just play with that confidence. Use your skills, use your skill set.”

“It’s just chatting,” Maccelli said. “How I was doing, how I felt first game. He just wants me to play with my strengths, but also play hard, work hard. You know, we want to play north in a forecheck game and all that stuff. So just be good at that and then play my game.”

Maccelli is a gifted playmaker, who produced 40 assists during the 2023-24 season.

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Toronto went 0/2 on the power play on Wednesday and surrendered a shorthanded goal.

“The breakouts were a problem and something we discussed and talked about,” Berube said.

But the focus during power-play reps at Friday’s practice was in-zone movement.

“The second power play we had, we’re slow, we’re not moving it,” Berube said. “We’re hanging on to it too long. We got to move it quicker and create some lanes for some shots and some attempts at the net.”

Matthews felt the issues at 5-on-5 bled into the man-advantage opportunities.

“I just thought the execution, in general, wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be in our overall game,” he said. “Some puck play and just taking care of it a little bit more. But I definitely think on the power play, it’s execution with our passing and moving it a little bit quicker.”

Berube brought up the fact that the ice wasn’t great at Scotiabank Arena.

“But that’s an excuse,” the coach quickly added. “We’ve got to make harder plays in critical situations. I’m not talking about putting it on somebody’s tape, it’s getting the puck out of our zone, getting it deep. There’s those situations, and some of them are just self-inflicted, where we’re trying to beat people, and we shouldn’t be because we’ve got numbers back and we’ve got to make sure we’re doing a good job there.”

Leafs Ice Chips: Power play picks up the pace after slow start to post-Marner era The Maple Leafs’ power play got off to a slow start against the Canadiens and even allowed a short-handed goal in the first period. TSN’s Mark Masters has more on what was discussed at Friday’s practice, where special teams was a focus.

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Easton Cowan received a call from general manager Brad Treliving earlier this week informing him that he’d be starting the season in the NHL.

“That was definitely cool,” the 20-year-old winger said. “Told my parents right away. Special moment for sure, but not every day here is guaranteed, so just got to keep working and keep putting good days on good days.”

Cowan was the first skater on the ice ahead of Friday’s practice.

After sitting out the opening game as a healthy scratch, Cowan split reps with Nick Robertson on the third line during Friday’s practice. Cowan also split reps with Robertson on the second power play unit. Robertson played a team low 10:40 on Wednesday.

How close is Cowan to making his NHL debut?

“He’s close,” Berube assured reporters. “He’s got a great attitude. He works hard. He had a good practice today. That’s decisions that we have to discuss and make … We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Cowan’s family is on standby and ready to travel to Detroit if they get word that he’s playing.

“If I find out I’m in, I’m sure I’ll have like 20 to 30 people there, so just being patient,” he said.

Cowan is from Mount Brydges, Ont. which is located between Toronto and Detroit. He noted that a debut in Detroit may prove more convenient for his family.

“It might be better with the traffic,” he said with a smile.

Treliving made it clear that if Cowan is on the NHL roster he wants him playing in games.

“I love Cowan,” Berube said. “We all do. He’s going to be a good Leaf, I’ll tell you that. He’s going to be a good hockey player, and he is a good hockey player. But the team’s the most important thing, and we’ve got to make decisions and they don’t always please everybody.”

Cowan is eligible to be sent down to the American Hockey League without clearing waivers, so if he’s not in an NHL game soon that’s his likely destination. The Toronto Marlies will open their season on Friday.

For now, Cowan is soaking up every moment with the Leafs.

“Just being around the guys, it’s been awesome,” the 2023 first-round pick said. “Learning so much. I find every day you show up to the rink, you just learn more and more each and every time. So I’m just trying to really pick everyone’s brain and just try to better myself each and every day.”

Getting a chance to see Matthews up close is a valuable experience by itself.

“Just watching the way he leads on and off the ice, I mean, he’s so dialed in,” Cowan said. “Works hard in the gym, and then on the ice, he’s special. I mean, you see the plays he makes. Like today in practice, he’s looking inside, (snaps finger) he goes outside like that. So super cool, and just try to learn from him a lot.”

Cowan countdown: Berube still undecided on when Leafs rookie will debut Easton Cowan’s regular season debut will happen eventually, but when it comes, is out of the young forward’s control. Cowan has plenty of family on standby for the big moment and spoke about what he has been soaking up in practice watching players like Auston Matthews put in the work.

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Matthews had high praise for his old US National Team Development Program teammate Dylan Larkin on Friday.

“He’s always been a guy that I’ve looked up to actually and have a ton of respect for,” Matthews said. “The way that he goes about his business, his work ethic, has always jumped out at me, and the way he plays the game.”

The Wings will be looking to bounce back after dropping their season opener 5-1 to the Canadiens on Thursday night. Matthews will likely get matched up against Larkin.

“I think he’s a really honest player,” the Leafs captain said. “He plays both sides of the puck really hard and is a great leader, so I’ve always had a lot of respect for him, you know, knowing him since we were 16, 17 years old and then being able to play with him at different stages in our career.”

Larkin scored a goal and tied for the team lead with five shots on Thursday.

Matthews on ‘really honest player’ Larkin: ‘Always been a guy I’ve looked up to’ Ahead of the Maple Leafs game against the Red Wings on Saturday, Auston Matthews had plenty of praise for Dylan Larkin, a player he has known since his junior days.

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Lines at Friday’s practice:

Knies – Matthews – Maccelli

McMann – Tavares – Nylander

Joshua – Domi – Robertson/Cowan

Lorentz – Roy – Jarnkrok

Blais

McCabe – Tanev

Rielly – Carlo

Benoit – Ekman-Larsson

Myers

Stolarz

Primeau

William Nylander, Max Domi & Simon Benoit served meals to hundreds of youths in their visit to Covenant House Toronto, an agency that provides shelter, meals, health services & employment training to homeless, trafficked or at risk youth.

Read more: https://t.co/XUL4ubllIy pic.twitter.com/jnKRjioZa5

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) October 10, 2025

Power play units at Friday’s practice:

QB: Rielly

Flanks: Matthews, Nylander

Middle: Tavares

Net front: Knies

QB: Ekman-Larsson

Flanks: Domi, Maccelli

Middle: Robertson/Cowan

Net front: McMann