Matthew Knies was absent from the morning skate. Knies has recorded 12 goals and 38 points in 43 games this season, but hasn't registered a point in his past four games. If Knies is able to play, he may be placed on the top line with Auston Matthews and Max Domi, while Bobby McMann drops down to the fourth line. McMann skated with Matthews and Domi during Thursday's morning skate.
Burned in Zach Werenski's memory is the first U.S. practice at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. You look around and see the skill, Werenski said. I was like, This is fast.' It's wave after wave, player after player. He and his countrymen fell short at that tournament, which was designed to be an appetizer of sorts for the return of NHL players to the Olympics.
Against a team that has that much firepower, especially with [Stephen] Halliday coming back, you just can't afford to give them anything. When you turn pucks over in tough areas of the ice and leave them alone in front of the net, it makes for a long one. We couldn't overcome it. It's disappointing, but it wasn't from a lack of effort from the guys coming in. I thought they did a nice job.
It is really frustrating when you come out on the bottom of all these games where I feel like we're playing well and we're playing good enough to win,
Connor opened the scoring 4:20 into the first period, pouncing on a rebound after Alex Iafallo deflected Mark Scheifele's shot. Morrissey doubled the lead early in the second with a shot through traffic, and Toews made it 3-0 just 42 seconds later on a power play, sliding home a rebound from Gabe Vilardi's attempt.
The upstart Anaheim Ducks overachieved out of the gate this season in eye-popping fashion. Anaheim was 11-3-1 through its first 15 games, led the NHL in scoring (4.13 goals per game) at that mark and perhaps most shockingly, it was the Ducks' 21-year-old forward Leo Carlsson sitting second overall in league scoring with 10 goals and 25 points to start the season. It was a script particularly befitting the club's Disney roots. But the Ducks' Cinderella story has taken a Maleficent-like turn.
A.J. Greer got off the schneid, scoring a pair of goals to help the Florida Panthers topple the Buffalo Sabres by a 4-3 count at Key Bank Center. Aided by an early interference minor on Josh Doan, the Panthers drew first blood 2:35 into the action when Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Sam Reinhart, who was knocked down, and fed Uvis Baliniskis at the left point.
"Just a really good spirit, really good person. Affected a lot of people positively when they walked into that place," McMann said to Sportsnet about Wilson. "And he was just a lifelong Leafs fan. Always wanted to talk hockey, would always record the games, watch them later."
Maple Leafs F Nick Robertson will not return to tonight's game (lower body).- Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 13, 2026 Waiting on the severity of the injury There was no immediate update on Robertson from Craig Berube following the game, as they will need to take a closer look to examine the injury. If Robertson's set to miss time with the Maple Leafs, this could be a crucial injury coming at a very important stretch of their schedule.
