The Toronto Maple Leafs were successful earlier this month without William Nylander in the lineup, and the Leafs will have to find the winning formula without their leading scorer in the finale of their four-game road swing against the Winnipeg Jets. Leafs head coach Craig Berube indicated on Saturday that Nylander will miss Saturday’s contest against the last place Jets and possibly another game after a recurrence of a lower-body injury that kept him out six games in the first period of the overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
The Jets have won four straight after losing 11 games in a row earlier this month, and will not be an easy two points after the Leafs came back from a 4-1 deficit to win 6-5 at Scotiabank Arena on New Year’s Day, thanks mostly to a hat trick from Auston Matthews. Toronto is expected to have veteran Calle Jarnkrok return to the lineup to replace Nylander, and will start Dennis Hildeby in goal.
Hildeby was a victim of a tired Leafs squad in a 6-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth, allowing six goals on 41 shots in the second-half of a back-to-back after the overtime win against Colorado. Toronto has three of a possible six points on the road trip, and in both the 4-3 overtime victory over the Avalanche and the 6-5 overtime loss to the Golden Knights, the Leafs led in the final 10 minutes of the third period and surrendered the lead.
A victory over Winnipeg would salvage the road swing, giving the Leafs a 2-1-1 record, but the fact that they have the worst winning percentage (.667) in the NHL of a team leading after two periods and the second-worst road record in the league (7-11-3) are clear signs of greater issues that have yet to be rectified.
Toronto is eighth in offense with 158 goals, and that record is impressive when you consider that they have been without Auston Matthews and Nylander for significant stretches. The issue continues to be defensively, where they are 25th in the NHL (155 goals allowed) and have only a +3 goal differential.
Without Chris Tanev in the lineup for the foreseeable future, and Simon Benoit out day-to-day, the Leafs are forced to play Philippe Myers on the bottom pairing. The lack of depth on the blueline is troubling for the club, but the lack of defensive acumen of the forward group is just as glaring and is something that must be rectified if Toronto hopes to make the postseason.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (23-16-8 – 54 POINTS)
at
WINNIPEG JETS (19-22-5 – 43 POINTS)
JANUARY 17, 2026 ▪ 7:00 PM EST ▪ CANADA LIFE CENTRE (WINNIPEG, MB)
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: SPORTSNET 590
MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY vs. WINNIPEG JETS
| All-Time Record: | 47-25-1-9 (82 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 24-12-0-5 (41 Games) |
| 2024-25: | 1-1-0 |
| Last Five: | 4-1-0 |
| Last 10: | 7-3-0 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | October 27, 1999 (Toronto 4 vs. Atlanta 0) |
| All-Time Record: | 47-25-1-9 (82 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 23-13-1-4 (41 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 24-12-0-5 (41 Games) |
| Last Road Win vs. Opponent: | October 28, 2024 (Toronto 6 at Winnipeg 4) |
MAPLE LEAFS / JETS – 2025-26 TEAM STATS
| TORONTO | WINNIPEG | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.36 (4th) | 3.04 (19th) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 3.28 (24th-T) | 3.11 (19th-T) |
| Power Play %: | 17.2 (23rd) | 20.0 (18th-T) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 83.9 (3rd-T) | 78.3 (20th) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 26.8 (22nd-T) | 26.4 (24th) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 31.4 (32nd) | 28.0 (14th) |
| Faceoff %: | 56.5 (1st) | 51.1 (9th-T) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
Home › Forums › Leafs Without Nylander In Winnipeg
Tagged: nhl, Toronto Maple Leafs