The Toronto Maple Leafs wrapped up their pre-season campaign with a split-squad affair with the Ottawa Senators, one played at Scotiabank Arena, and the other at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Center.
The Maple Leafs took both games, with a dominant 6-1 victory on home ice and a 4-2 win in the nation’s capital. Here are the key takeaways from the evening, heading into the 2026-27 NHL regular season.
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1. Dominant Offensive Performance
It’s fair to say that it is pre-season, and while the Senators brought out to Scotiabank Arena Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto, and others, it wasn’t their strongest lineup.
Nonetheless, what was evident was Toronto’s pressure in the offensive zone. On several occasions, the Maple Leafs hemmed the Senators in their own zone and moved the puck smoothly.
The shot totals ended up being 36-14 in favor of the Leafs, and the scoreboard correlated with that.
All areas of the lineup were chipping in, too. John Tavares, Jack Roslovic and Auston Matthews finished with three points, and to round out the top six, Gavin McKenna and William Nylander accumulated a plus-three rating and one assist each. Even Zack MacEwen had an impressive game, getting on the scoresheet as well.
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2. Nick Paul Left Early With Injury
Going through training camp, the Maple Leafs were feeling pretty confident with their third line of Easton Cowan, Nick Paul and Colton Sissons. They believe to be capable of taking on some tough assignments and challenging the opposition’s top players.
But one-third of that line left the game early in Toronto. Paul only had six shifts and played 4:42 of ice time on Wednesday. His issue remained undisclosed, but head coach Jim Hiller isn’t too concerned about the severity of what kept Paul out for the rest of the outing.
“Yeah, we’ll know tomorrow,” he said after the game. “I don’t think it’s too serious. I talked to him after, but we’ll know a little bit more tomorrow.”
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3. Matthew Knies ‘Wasn’t That Dangerous’
With everyone in the top six getting some sort of contribution on Toronto’s six goals at Scotiabank Arena, Matthew Knies was left behind with no points to show for it.
His night ended with one shot on goal, an even plus-minus rating, and 17:48 of ice time. He was also held off the scoresheet in the Leafs’ first pre-season game against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Knies also had just one shot on goal, as well as a minus-two rating with 20:22 of ice time.
Here is Hiller’s assessment of Knies’ camp so far.
“I thought he was better tonight,” the head coach said. “He wasn’t that dangerous. I think he only ended up with one shot on goal. Took one to the net. So I think this has been okay. I wouldn’t say strongly one way or the other. I think there’s more there for sure.”
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4. Fisticuffs On The Road, Again
Toronto’s first pre-season affair in Montreal saw a couple of fights at the Bell Centre, but that was topped on Wednesday at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Four fights broke out in Toronto’s win on the road. Landon Sim started fight night off with a scrap with Matthew Andonovski. Brendan Brisson challenged Sammy Blais after Blais laid a heavy hit on Nick Blankenburg, which got him shaken up. Then Brandon Duhaim fought Cameron Crotty 33 seconds into the final frame, and Sim found himself in his second tilt of the night to end the parade of fighting majors, dancing with Nick Cousins.
Behind the spotlight of the fighting in Ottawa, Henrik Rybinski scored his second goal of the pre-season to open the scoring.
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