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<p>We&#8217;re almost underway for the home opener as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Arena.</p>
<p><a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-john-tavares-absent-morning-skate-illness">John Tavares did not skate due to illness</a> but head coach Craig Berube said there&#8217;s a chance he&#8217;ll suit up Saturday.</p>
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<p>Here&#8217;s what you need to know from morning skate:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The calm before home opener. <a href="https://t.co/ZTchNLRl1u">pic.twitter.com/ZTchNLRl1u</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1845100252396654782?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Here&#8217;s what you need to know ahead of Saturday&#8217;s home opener:</p>
<h3>Tavares does not skate due to illness, Max Pacioretty takes PP1 reps</h3>
<p>John Tavares did not skate due to illness, Leafs PR confirmed before Saturday&#8217;s morning skate officially took place. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters that there&#8217;s a chance Tavares will suit up Saturday and it will be something to monitor ahead of puck drop.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Max Pacioretty is getting a look in place of John Tavares (not skating due to illness) on the first power play unit during practice.</p>
<p>&mdash; Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1845111471442653266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Max Pacioretty took reps on Toronto&#8217;s first power play alongside Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly, while Max Domi, Nick Robertson, Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were working on the other end of the ice. It doesn&#8217;t appear that Berube is going to split the two units after the power play&#8217;s disjointed showing through the opening two games of the season. Pacioretty was working out of Tavares&#8217; spot and will be likely looking to attack from in front of the crease, if he&#8217;s deployed on the top unit Saturday.</p>
<p>Here are Saturday&#8217;s practice lines — which may be updated, if Tavares is able to play:</p>
<p><em>Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner</em></p>
<p><em>Bobby McMann-Pontus Holmberg-William Nylander</em></p>
<p><em>Max Pacioretty-Max Domi-Nick Robertson</em></p>
<p><em>Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Morgan Rielly-Chris Tanev</em></p>
<p><em>Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Jake McCabe</em></p>
<p><em>Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins</em></p>
<p><em>Phillippe Myers-Timothy Liljegren (projected scratches)</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Anthony Stolarz (projected starter)</em></p>
<p><em>Dennis Hildeby</em></p>
<p>Here are the projected lines for the Penguins, after they concluded their morning skate Saturday:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here are the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetsGoPens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LetsGoPens</a> lines and D-pairs at morning skate:</p>
<p>Beauvillier-Crosby-Rust<br />Bunting-Malkin-Rakell<br />O’Connor-Eller-Puljujarvi<br />Hayes-Glass-Acciari</p>
<p>Grzelcyk-Letang<br />Pettersson-Karlsson<br />St. Ivany-Graves</p>
<p>&mdash; Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/PensInsideScoop/status/1845126147052626200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3>Joseph Woll listed as day-to-day, Anthony Stolarz likely to start vs. Penguns</h3>
<p>Joseph Woll <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-update-joseph-woll-getting-better">remains day-to-day</a> with a lower-body injury, Berube confirmed after morning skate. Woll was placed on injured reserve and is eligible to return October 16 against the Los Angeles Kings.</p>
<p>&#8220;Getting better,&#8221; Berube said, noting that Woll hasn&#8217;t skated since his injury designation.</p>
<p>Toronto&#8217;s starting goaltender hasn&#8217;t been confirmed but Anthony Stolarz is the projected starter, while Dennis Hildeby is expected to operate as the backup.</p>
<p>Joel Blomqvist will start for the Penguins, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed.</p>
<h3>Season 20 of the Sidney Crosby Show comes to Toronto</h3>
<p>Sidney Crosby is in Year 20 of his career and it&#8217;s always a special moment when the best player of his generation suits up in Toronto.</p>
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s always a really tough guy to play against but it&#8217;s always a good challenge, a fun challenge,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/Arunthings/status/1845128584567939529">Matthews said of Crosby</a> after the morning skate. &#8220;Like I&#8217;ve said before, what he&#8217;s been able to do over the course of his career has obviously been pretty incredible. The consistency that he continues to play with in Year 20 in this league, and he&#8217;s still one of the players to look at. You always have to look for him on the ice, he&#8217;s very dangerous. It&#8217;s a fun challenge.&#8221;</p>
<p>Crosby was met by several members of the media and took some time to reflect on his fondest memories in Toronto.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of different games to remember,&#8221; Crosby said after taking a few seconds to reflect. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to say. Obviously playing in the World Cup here too was pretty special. An opportunity to play for Canada here and experience that. That one comes to mind pretty quick but there&#8217;s been lots of one over the years that have been pretty memorable.&#8221;</p>
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe_LWKt9En4

We're almost underway for the home opener as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Arena.

<a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-john-tavares-absent-morning-skate-illness">John Tavares did not skate due to illness</a> but head coach Craig Berube said there's a chance he'll suit up Saturday.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
Here's what you need to know from morning skate:

https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1845100252396654782

Here's what you need to know ahead of Saturday's home opener:
<h3>Tavares does not skate due to illness, Max Pacioretty takes PP1 reps</h3>
John Tavares did not skate due to illness, Leafs PR confirmed before Saturday's morning skate officially took place. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters that there's a chance Tavares will suit up Saturday and it will be something to monitor ahead of puck drop.

https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1845111471442653266

Max Pacioretty took reps on Toronto's first power play alongside Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly, while Max Domi, Nick Robertson, Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were working on the other end of the ice. It doesn't appear that Berube is going to split the two units after the power play's disjointed showing through the opening two games of the season. Pacioretty was working out of Tavares' spot and will be likely looking to attack from in front of the crease, if he's deployed on the top unit Saturday.

Here are Saturday's practice lines — which may be updated, if Tavares is able to play:

<em>Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner</em>

<em>Bobby McMann-Pontus Holmberg-William Nylander</em>

<em>Max Pacioretty-Max Domi-Nick Robertson</em>

<em>Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves</em>

&nbsp;

<em>Morgan Rielly-Chris Tanev</em>

<em>Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Jake McCabe</em>

<em>Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins</em>

<em>Phillippe Myers-Timothy Liljegren (projected scratches)</em>

&nbsp;

<em>Anthony Stolarz (projected starter)</em>

<em>Dennis Hildeby</em>

Here are the projected lines for the Penguins, after they concluded their morning skate Saturday:

https://twitter.com/PensInsideScoop/status/1845126147052626200
<h3>Joseph Woll listed as day-to-day, Anthony Stolarz likely to start vs. Penguns</h3>
Joseph Woll <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-update-joseph-woll-getting-better">remains day-to-day</a> with a lower-body injury, Berube confirmed after morning skate. Woll was placed on injured reserve and is eligible to return October 16 against the Los Angeles Kings.

"Getting better," Berube said, noting that Woll hasn't skated since his injury designation.

Toronto's starting goaltender hasn't been confirmed but Anthony Stolarz is the projected starter, while Dennis Hildeby is expected to operate as the backup.

Joel Blomqvist will start for the Penguins, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed.
<h3>Season 20 of the Sidney Crosby Show comes to Toronto</h3>
Sidney Crosby is in Year 20 of his career and it's always a special moment when the best player of his generation suits up in Toronto.

"He's always a really tough guy to play against but it's always a good challenge, a fun challenge," <a href="https://x.com/Arunthings/status/1845128584567939529">Matthews said of Crosby</a> after the morning skate. "Like I've said before, what he's been able to do over the course of his career has obviously been pretty incredible. The consistency that he continues to play with in Year 20 in this league, and he's still one of the players to look at. You always have to look for him on the ice, he's very dangerous. It's a fun challenge."

Crosby was met by several members of the media and took some time to reflect on his fondest memories in Toronto.

"It's a lot of different games to remember," Crosby said after taking a few seconds to reflect. "It's hard to say. Obviously playing in the World Cup here too was pretty special. An opportunity to play for Canada here and experience that. That one comes to mind pretty quick but there's been lots of one over the years that have been pretty memorable."
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
&nbsp;
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Scenes from morning skate: Tavares absent due to illness, Pacioretty on PP1, Crosby comes to town

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