Rangers visit Maple Leafs tonight: what to know before the 7 PM puck drop
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- The Rangers (7-3-1) visit the Maple Leafs (5-4-2) at 7 PM ET tonight at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
- Toronto can earn its first three-game winning streak of the season before leaving on a road trip.
- Sergei Bobrovsky starts in goal for Toronto; Dylan Garand starts for New York with both top Rangers goalies hurt.
Why is everyone searching Rangers vs Maple Leafs today? The New York Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. The game starts at 7 PM ET on October 22, 2026.
It takes place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Both teams arrive in good form. New York has won seven of its first 11 games.
Toronto has won two games in a row and wants a third. This guide covers the lineups, injuries, goalies, and how to watch. Every fact below comes from the NHL, Maple Leaf Hot Stove, or Sportskeeda.
What happened before tonight
The Rangers beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Monday, according to the NHL. Sean Durzi played in that win. He had left an earlier game after a shot hit him near the wrist.
His return gives the Rangers a full defense group tonight. New York has been much stronger at home this season. The Rangers are 6-0-0 at home.
On the road, they are only 1-3-1, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove. CBS Sports framed this game as a chance to fix those road problems.
Toronto beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 in its last game. The Leafs fell behind 1-0 early. Then they scored five of the next six goals.
Easton Cowan was the best player on the ice. He scored one goal and made two assists.
The Leafs also won the game before that. That gives them back-to-back wins for the first time this season. A third win would give them their first three-game winning streak.
Coach Jim Hiller wants that momentum before the team leaves for a road trip, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove.
Projected lineups for both teams
The NHL published the projected lineups for tonight. These are not final. Coaches can still change them before the game.
For Toronto, the top line is Easton Cowan, Auston Matthews, and Jack Roslovic. The second line has Kirill Marchenko, Nick Paul, and William Nylander. The third line has Gavin McKenna, Colton Sissons, and Vinni Lettieri.
Matthews leads the Leafs with 18 points. He has 8 goals and 10 assists in 11 games. Nylander has 15 points.
His line partner Marchenko has 11, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove. For New York, the top line is Gabe Perreault, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis Lafreniere.
The second line has JT Miller between Tye Kartye and Pavel Dorofeyev. Lafreniere leads the Rangers with 13 points, including 7 goals.
The Rangers have a major issue in goal. Both of their main goalies are hurt. Igor Shesterkin and Joonas Korpisalo are out with lower-body injuries, according to the NHL.
Dylan Garand is the projected starter. Spencer Martin is the backup.
Toronto has no such worry in net. Sergei Bobrovsky starts for the Leafs. Anthony Stolarz backs him up, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove.
Injuries have hurt Toronto's skaters too. John Tavares is out week to week with a lower-body injury. Chris Tanev is out week to week with an upper-body injury.
Max Domi is on long-term injury. Dakota Joshua is out with a core injury. All four were listed by the NHL.
Why this game matters
The matchup puts strength against strength. Toronto scores a lot. The Leafs have 38 goals in 11 games.
That ranks near the top of the league. New York stops a lot. The Rangers have allowed only 24 goals in 11 games.
That is 2.18 goals per game. It ranks third best in the NHL, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove.
Special teams are elite on both sides. When a team takes a penalty, it must play with one fewer skater. The other team attacks with more skaters, which is called a power play.
Toronto's power play scores on 27.5 percent of its chances. That ranks fifth in the league. The short-handed defense is called the penalty kill.
Toronto's penalty kill stops 97.4 percent of power plays. That ranks first. The Rangers' penalty kill is second at 94.1 percent, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove.
Last season, Toronto won the season series. The Leafs went 2-1-0 against the Rangers. New York went 1-1-1.
There is also a family story tonight. Toronto defenseman Darren Raddysh faces his brother Taylor Raddysh. Taylor plays forward for the Rangers.
Their mother is in town for the game, Darren Raddysh told Maple Leaf Hot Stove. He said he will go easy on his brother in the corners but will try his hardest to win.
Stories like this one keep showing up in the NHL. Read about another pair of brothers who met for the first time on NHL ice in our report on the Hutson brothers' first NHL meeting.
How to watch the game
The game starts at 7 PM ET. In Canada, it airs on TSN4. In the United States, it airs on MSG.
ESPN+ also streams the game for out-of-market viewers, according to Sportskeeda. The venue is Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Sportskeeda lists the Rangers as small favorites. The odds site gave the Rangers -112 and the Leafs -108. Its own prediction was Rangers 4, Maple Leafs 2.
The total was set at 6.5 goals.
What happens next
If Toronto wins, the Leafs get their first three-game winning streak of the season. Then they leave for a road trip with real confidence. Their next games take them west, away from home ice.
If New York wins, the Rangers fix their road record. They would be 2-3-1 away from home. They would also prove they can win with their third-string goalie in net.
That would send a message to the rest of the Eastern Conference. The Rangers sit near the top of the early standings. Toronto sits around the middle.
Both teams have played 11 games. The season is still young, but games like this shape the race. Check our look at the early-season NHL standings for the full picture.
Tonight is also another test for Toronto's depth. The Leafs beat Columbus without Tavares, Tanev, and Domi. They did it again with Bobrovsky in goal and young players stepping up.
Rookie Easton Cowan has 10 points in 11 games, according to Maple Leaf Hot Stove.
New York will test that depth hard. The Rangers roll four lines that can score. They also have Adam Fox on defense.
Fox has 10 assists already this season. He moves the puck better than almost any defenseman in the league.
Fans in Toronto will see a packed building. The fans in New York will watch a team trying to prove its strong start is real.
The puck drops at 7 PM ET. For more on how Toronto looked in its last home game, read our Maple Leafs vs Mammoth game preview. Come back after the final buzzer for the result.
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