The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night in the only NHL game on the schedule. Both teams enter with records of 5-4-1 and 5-4-0, respectively, riding two-game winning streaks after victories on Tuesday. The matchup at Nationwide Arena highlights potential U.S. Olympic teammates Auston Matthews and Zach Werenski.
The Toronto Maple Leafs (5-4-1) will travel to face the Columbus Blue Jackets (5-4-0) at 7:30 p.m. ET at Nationwide Arena, broadcast on FDSNOH, NHLN, SN1 and TVAS. This marks the first of three meetings between the teams this season; Columbus won two of three games last season. Neither team held a morning skate after playing Tuesday, when the Maple Leafs defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 and the Blue Jackets won 4-3 in overtime against the Buffalo Sabres.
Projected Lineups
For the Maple Leafs, the forward lines are projected as: Bobby McMann -- Auston Matthews -- Matias Maccelli; Matthew Knies -- John Tavares -- Easton Cown; Dakota Joshua -- Nicolas Roy -- Nicholas Robertson; Steven Lorentz -- Max Domi -- Sammy Blais. Defense pairs include Morgan Rielly -- Philippe Myers; Jake McCabe -- Simon Benoit; Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Brandon Carlo. Goalies are Cayden Primeau and Anthony Stolarz, with Primeau potentially starting after Stolarz made 26 saves Tuesday. Scratches include Dakota Mermis and Sammy Blais. Injuries: Scott Laughton (lower body), Chris Tanev (upper body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower body) and William Nylander (lower body).
The Blue Jackets' forwards are: Dmitri Voronkov -- Sean Monahan -- Kirill Marchenko; Boone Jenner -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson; Cole Sillinger -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier; Miles Wood -- Isac Lundestrom -- Yegor Chinakhov. Defense: Zach Werenski -- Denton Mateychuk; Ivan Provorov -- Damon Severson; Dante Fabbro -- Jake Christiansen. Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves, with Merzlikins starting after Greaves' 35 saves Tuesday. Scratched: Zach Aston-Reese. Injured: Erik Gudbranson (hip), missing a second straight game after being replaced by Christiansen Tuesday.
Key Storylines
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, both projected for Team USA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics—100 days from Opening Ceremonies—will oppose each other. Matthews was named to the U.S. roster on June 16, with Werenski likely to join in January. They previously teamed up at the 4 Nations Face-Off (Matthews: three assists in three games; Werenski: six assists in four), the 2015 and 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships, and USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. This season, Matthews has eight points (five goals, three assists) in 10 games, while Werenski has six points (two goals, four assists) in nine.
John Tavares is one goal shy of 500 in his career, the fifth active player and 49th in NHL history to reach the mark. He had an assist Tuesday to extend his point streak to five games (four goals, four assists) but was held scoreless in the 4-3 win. On Oct. 18, the 35-year-old became the fourth player to record 500 points with multiple teams, joining Ron Francis, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky.
William Nylander leads Toronto with 15 points (tied for eighth in NHL) and 12 assists (tied for third). For Columbus, Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov lead with nine points each (five goals, four assists).