The Toronto Maple Leafs took this year’s edition of the opening night showdown vs. the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-2. In equally encouraging news, it seems like Morgan Rielly might be back.
Rielly’s increased speed and confidence has been a talking point among players throughout training camp, and it was on full display in the home opener. He assisted on Calle Jarnkrok’s tying goal in the second period and scored the eventual game-winner in the third, and on both plays he succeeded by doing what he does best – jumping into the play with the forwards.
He Rielly roofed that thang 🤢@OREO | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/5gUXdZusqD
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 9, 2025
Rielly finished the night with two points, a plus-2 rating and a team-leading five shots on goal. You can see a clear difference in Rielly at his best and Rielly at his worst, and it comes down to one thing – confidence. When he’s struggling, he’s overthinking plays, treating the puck like a grenade, and frequently getting lost in position. When he’s at his best, he’s confident with the puck, he jumps into the rush when appropriate, and he’s getting pucks to the net to either set his teammates up for a rebound or deflection. In some cases, it finds the net.
Bobby McMann opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs on the season, which will sit well with head coach Craig Berube after the bench boss singled out McMann in preseason as somebody he wanted to see more from. He did exactly what Berube expected him to do on that line, getting in front of the net and deflecting a shot from William Nylander to pick up the goal. Nylander himself had a quiet three-point night to open the season, although two of the points came on a pair of empty netters at the end of the game from Nylander and Auston Matthews.
Needless to say, it was a solid game, and most importantly, a solid finish for a Maple Leafs team that looks to pick up where they left off in terms of getting leads and holding them. They’ll take this result over the 48-save shutout they suffered at the hands of Sam Montembeault in last season’s home opener and look to build some early momentum when they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
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