TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers both practised in Toronto on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's game at the Air Canada Centre.

- Frederik Andersen was asked whether his challenge right now is more mental or physical. "Mostly mental, probably," he admitted. How do you get that back? "By working hard." He'll get a chance at redemption Thursday night. Mike Babcock said he never considered giving the goalie a few games off to regroup. "When you look at his numbers over the last three years and look at his numbers with us they're not the same, so I know things have a way of evening out," Babcock explained. "When you're good you don't just lose it, there's something affecting you. So we talked about that here today."

- Babcock believes the transition from Anaheim to a big market like Toronto shouldn't be an issue for Andersen. "We play in the greatest hockey market in the world with the most fans and the most media and whether people believe this or not, they're cheering for ya. They want you to be great. That's what you got to get through your head. There's no witch hunt here at all. They want to cheer for you and if you're great they're cheering for you and if not they want a new guy. It's that simple. I think that's fair." Andersen refused to use the change of scenery as an excuse. "Anywhere you are you're going to have tough nights," he said. "It's about bouncing back and showing what you're made of."

- Babcock shed more light on his choice to not pull Andersen during Tuesday's loss. "There was a decision for me to make at the end of the first period last night: Do I take him out? Do I leave him in? I just thought it was important for him to battle and I challenged him in front of his teammates as well to do that." Andersen noted it can be hard to get back on track once things start going sideways. "Sometimes it can be a tough spiral when you're not playing like you want to, you want to try harder. But sometimes you just want to try and relax a little bit too and don't grip your stick a little bit too hard. It's something I just got to try and do better."

- Florida Panthers goalie James Reimer spent a decade in the Leafs organization suiting up for the team in six seasons. How did he handle the pressure? "People can boo, people can cheer — it's up to them. It doesn't really matter, but you just have to focus on what you can control and how much you believe in yourself and that's kind of how I felt," said Reimer, who described Toronto as a "fun" market to play in. "There's always a buzz, always excitement in the air." Reimer wasn't aware of the issues surrounding Andersen right now. "I don't know the complete ins and outs of it. I don't know Andersen too well, but I think he's a heck of a goalie. I think he's an elite goaltender and I'm sure things will play themselves out." 

- When Auston Matthews scored four goals in his NHL debut, Roberto Luongo joked that he would be giving all the Toronto starts to Reimer. But, it's Florida head coach Gerard Gallant who makes that call so it will be Luongo between the pipes for the Panthers on Thursday. "Well, I said that, but then Sid came back last night so I gave him that game," Luongo said with a laugh. As for Reimer, who started Tuesday in Pittsburgh, he was asked what he thought of Matthews taking his old number (34). "Yeah, it's terrible," he said with a laugh. "I can't believe the kid did it…Maybe I'll slash him in warm-ups or something." Reimer being Reimer, he followed that up by clarifying that he thought Matthews was great and of course he could have his number. 

- Babcock was asked once again about the great chemistry between Matthews and William Nylander and again he noted that Zach Hyman is a key part of that line. Babcock has been impressed with the rookies, but offered the following analysis of their play in Tuesday's loss: "I don't know if you noticed, they were dash-two right away in the game. That matters to me. You score, but if you give them up it doesn't make a difference. You can't give them up. You got to not give them up and then score and then you'll impress me."

- James van Riemsdyk missed practice, but Babcock said he'll be fine to play on Thursday. Peter Holland skated in JVR's place at practice and it appears like he will be the odd man out against the Panthers. Babcock confirmed that Seth Griffith will make his Leafs debut on Thursday night. He skated as the right winger on the fourth line at practice.

- For the third straight day the Leafs iced a new defensive alignment. It appears Roman Polak may be the odd man out on Thursday with Martin Marincin checking back in.  

Lines:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Holland-Bozak-Marner
Komarov-Kadri-Brown
Martin-Smith-Griffith
Leivo, Prust

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Carrick
Hunwick-Marincin
Corrado, Polak

Andersen
Enroth