Toronto Maple Leafs reveal Game 7 lines and Knies is playing
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a chance to exorcise their playoff demons, but they will have to come up victorious in a Game 7.
It’s been a tough road for the Leafs when it comes to this situation, having lost six straight Game 7s dating back to 2004. However, every new opportunity provides another chance for the Maple Leafs to prove the haters wrong.
The club looked strong in Game 6, staving off elimination with a spirited 2-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on hostile ice. Now, they will have the strength of Toronto fans behind their back as they return home and look to advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2002.
Head coach Craig Berube revealed his lineup for Game 7 at the morning skate and confirmed that Matthew Knies will be playing. TSN’s Mark Masters reported on the full lineup at Sunday morning’s skate before the big game.
Leafs lines at skate
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares -Nylander
Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok
McMann – Domi – Pacioretty
Kampf, RobertsonMcCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Carlo
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
Myers, HakanpääWoll
Murray
HildebyGame 7 tonight@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 18, 2025
Knies appeared to get hurt in Game 6 after taking an awkward reverse hit from Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola. After the play, Knies was shown on the broadcast to be in some discomfort. This would have been a huge loss for Toronto, as Knies is tied for second on the team in playoff goal-scoring with five through 12 games.
Knies is in some discomfort on the bench after this reverse hit pic.twitter.com/XPOYYi5JTu
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) May 17, 2025
He will skate on the Leafs’ top line alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. John Tavares will anchor the second line with Pontus Holmberg and William Nylander. Moving down to the bottom-six, Steven Lorentz is lining up beside Scott Laughton and Calle Jarnkrok while Max Domi pivots between Bobby McMann and Max Pacioretty on the fourth line.
On the blueline, Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev will continue to patrol as Toronto’s top defensive pairing. Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo make up the second pair, while Simon Benoit and Oliver Ekman-Larsson round things out on the third pair.
Anthony Stolarz will remain out of the lineup with an injury, leaving Joseph Woll to once again get the nod in net for the Maple Leafs. Woll is coming off a 22-save shutout performance in Game 6.
Puck drop in Toronto is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT.