Rangers vs. Maple Leafs: Lineups, storylines, including Will Borgen status
What a perfect time for the New York Rangers to skip out of the Big Apple for a two-game road trip this week.
In the midst of an historic scoring drought on home ice, the Rangers visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. They follow that up with a visit to the Bell Centre to play the Canadiens on Saturday.
The Rangers (2-3-0) are the first team in NHL history held scoreless in their first three home games in a season. New York’s latest shutout loss was a frustrating 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner stopped all 30 shots by the Rangers, who’ve yet to score on 90 shots over three games at MSG this season.
Though the Rangers remain confident and believe they’ve played exceptionally well despite a befuddling inability to score at home, they welcome taking to the road. In fact, it can be argued that the Rangers feel quite at home on the road, and have for years.
The Rangers won each of their road games to date this season, outscoring the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins by a whopping 10-1 combined. Moreover, no team in the NHL has more road points than the Rangers (210) since the 2021-22 season. Second on that list? The Maple Leafs (209), though that won’t exactly help them on Thursday, will it?
In fact, the Rangers have points in four straight games (2-0-2) visiting Scotiabank Arena, and in six of their past seven road games (4-0-2) against the Maple Leafs.
The Rangers defeated the Maple Leafs in their only visit to Toronto last season, a 4-1 decision on Oct. 19, 2024. That was part of four straight road wins by the Rangers out of the starting gate. They finished with 20 road victories, the fourth straight season with at least that many.
The Maple Leafs (2-2-0) have won two of three at home this season, including a 7-4 victory on Tuesday. Auston Matthews led the offensive explosion with two goals for Toronto, and three players — William Nylander, John Tavares, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson — each had three points (one goal, two assists apiece).
Nylander didn’t take part in the morning skate Thursday, but Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube calmed any fears that the star forward won’t play against the Rangers. Berube explained that Nylander was off ice for maintenance.
3 storylines when Rangers visit Maple Leafs
1. Will Borgen game-time decision
Will Borgen took part in the optional morning skate, but is a game-time decision, per Sullivan. The 28-year-old defenseman didn’t practice Wednesday due to a lower-body injury sustained in the loss to Edmonton on Tuesday.
The Rangers have options if Borgen can’t play against the Maple Leafs. Scott Morrow was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, and Sullivan said the chance that the 22-year-old rookie’s in the lineup “depends on the injuries.” Connor Mackey was a healthy scratch Tuesday, and remains an option if Borgen is out against the Maple Leafs.
In either scenario, it’s likely Braden Schneider moves up to the second defense pair if Borgen doesn’t play. And either Morrow or Mackey would draw in on the third pair.
Carson Soucy, who’s on IR with an upper-body injury, took part in the morning skate wearing no-contact jersey. That was a piece of good news for the Rangers.
2. Rangers PK vs. Maple Leafs power play
The Rangers are one of two teams yet to allow a power-play goal this season, along with the Boston Bruins. The New York penalty kill is a perfect 10-for-10. Igor Shesterkin’s the main reason for that — the Rangers goalie has been outstanding in all situations with an overall .972 save percentage in four starts, but his play shorthanded is really superb. The addition of defenseman Vladisalv Gavrikov on the PK is a big help too. And another key is that the Rangers are extremely disciplined, short-handed one time or fewer in three of five games. They didn’t take a single penalty Tuesday against the Oilers.
On the flip side, the Maple Leafs seek their first power-play goal of the season. They’ve had only eight chances — two in each of their four games. Only the Vancouver Canucks are also without a power-play goal. Last season, the Maple Leafs tied for eighth in the League on the power play, converting at 24.8 percent. Three of their forwards — Matthews (12), Nylander (12), and John Tavares (10) — had double-digit power-play goals.
3. A different look for Maple Leafs
Perhaps one of the reasons why the Toronto power play has struggled to begin the season is that Mitch Marner is no longer out there. The long-time Maple Leafs star is in Vegas now, after he agreed to sign and trade with the Golden Knights ahead of NHL free agency July 1. Marner led the Maple Leafs with 33 power-play points last season and finished fifth in the NHL with a career-high 102 points (27 goals, 75 points).
That’s a lot of production the Maple Leafs must replace, even with Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, and Matthew Knies among those still on the roster. Instead of finding a high-profile — and expensive — star player to replace Marner, the Maple Leafs sought to build up their forward depth. Nicolas Roy, Matias Miccelli, and Dakota Joshua were brought in this offseason, and highly-touted prospect Easton Cowan will get a look, too. That group’s been pretty quiet, so far, though veteran middle-sixer Calle Jarnkrok is tied with Matthews for the team goal-scoring lead (3).
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — J.T. Miller — Conor Sheary
Jonny Brodzinski — Noah Laba– Taylor Raddysh
Adam Edstrom — Sam Carrick — Matt Rempe
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Matthew Robertson — Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen — Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Maple Leafs: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
When: Thursday Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena
How to watch: MSG
More About: New York Rangers News