It’s no ordinary regular season game between two Original Six combatants, as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Detroit Red Wings for the Hall of Fame Game at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.

Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson spoke to reporters before the morning skate began, reflecting on their memories of Red Wings legend Pavel Datsyuk, who headlines this year’s Hall of Fame class.

“The only memory that jumps out is Randy Carlyle aggressively trying to keep me off the ice when he was on the ice in my first season. I was fine with it. It was a little demoralizing though,” Rielly said while laughing, bringing down the house.

Bobby McMann, Pontus Holmberg, Ryan Reaves, Nick Robertson, Philippe Myers, Matt Benning, Steven Lorentz and Chris Tanev were among the skaters.

Here’s what you need to know from Leafs’ morning skate:

Auston Matthews did not attend Friday’s optional skate and Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed he will miss Friday’s game. It appears that Matthews will likely miss Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens as well. Matthews was previously listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and he missed Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins due to the injury.

Max Domi is expected to remain on the top line, with Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner on his wings. There doesn’t appear to be any changes from Tuesday’s lineup.

Toronto has responded admirably in Matthews’ absence historically, posting a 36-19-2 cumulative record.

It appeared initially unclear, but Anthony Stolarz is the projected starter Friday. Stolarz recorded his first shutout of the season Tuesday against the Boston Bruins and appears to be pulling away with the No. 1 designation. Joseph Woll would appear likely to start Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

It was a relatively light practice, with both goalies receiving plenty of shots on net, but there were fewer set drills and areas of focus for the skaters in attendance. Stolarz is quickly emerging as a fan favourite and a down-ballot Vezina candidate through the opening month of the season.

Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson both played against Pavel Datsyuk during their careers and the Red Wings’ legend will be among the inductees from this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame class.

Datsyuk is expected to be in attendance and Rielly shared a hilarious story of Detroit’s two-way superstar during his rookie season.

“Just like, calling me off the ice. Which, again, I understand,” Rielly said. “Just a bit demoralizing in the moment. I think that’s just the way of a young defenceman playing against a future Hall-of-Famer.”

Rielly’s offense has picked up tremendously, coming off a three-point night against the Bruins. It’ll be compelling to see how Rielly and Ekman-Larsson continue to function as Toronto’s top-pairing throughout the season, as its most-used group at 5-on-5 thus far.

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