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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who practised at MasterCard Centre on Thursday. 

While Jake Gardiner’s timeline for his return to the blueline from a back injury remains up in the air, the situation with Travis Dermott seems a lot clearer. After missing 14 games with a shoulder injury, the defenceman skated in a regular sweater and on a regular pairing at practice Thursday. Will he play against the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday? 

"Hopefully," he said, "still a little bit up in the air, but I think it’s pretty hopeful so working towards that, for sure."

"He hasn’t been cleared yet," Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. "They never give you that get-out-of-jail card until the last second, but, I mean, he’s wearing black, he's ready to go."

Dermott has been out since getting hurt in a game against the Oilers in Edmonton on Feb. 27. 

"These guys in here have been working me so hard so that I don't have to second-guess myself when I come back," Dermott said. "That’s the biggest thing for me, whether that takes a game or two just try to get that out of my mind and make sure every shift I’m out there not thinking about second-guessing myself."

Dermott skated on the right side on a pairing with Martin Marincin at practice. 

"I love Marv," the 22-year-old said with a grin. "I’ve called him ‘Dad,’ since the Marlies days. He’s a good guy to have around, a great guy to talk to. He’s kind of shy when you first meet him, but he’s one of the funnier guys once you get him to open up to you and a real easy guy to play too, he’s really defensively sound and I feel like we got some good chemistry."

The "Daddy Marv" nickname is a reference to one of the characters in the Home Alone movies. 

The return of Dermott and eventually Gardiner should help plug a couple of the leaks that have led to an avalanche of goals against lately. 

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Gardiner took part in Thursday’s practice for the first time since he was shut down with a back issue last month. He hasn’t played since suiting up against the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 25. 

He wore a red no-contact sweater and didn’t participate in every drill, but his mere presence on the ice with teammates was seen as a big positive. 

"You want to be flying going into the playoffs and it’s never easy to be hurt, but especially at a time like this when you have such a good team and you want to be a part of it," Gardiner said. 

Babcock was optimistic about the 28-year-old's road to recovery.  

"Well, he’s not a kid," the coach said. "He’s been around a long time so I think that will help. But I thought today was good even though he wasn’t involved in the contact, he was involved in a lot ... Even when he did the one-on-one (drills), even though he wasn’t involved in the contact, it was still good for his quick twitch and getting back up to speed."

There's no specific timeline for Gardiner's return, but he's hoping to suit up in at least one of the Leafs’ final five regular season games. 

"He generates offence," noted Babcock, "he makes unbelievable plays, he’s good defensively so we’ve missed him and it’s very apparent. When he’s ready to play, he’s going to play."

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There were three goalies on the ice at Thursday’s practice as Boston College product Joseph Woll, who recently signed an entry-level deal with the Leafs, joined Frederik Andersen and Garret Sparks. Woll, 20, is getting a taste of professional hockey and split a net with Andersen giving Toronto's struggling starter a little rest. 

Toronto has allowed the most goals per game (4.33) in the NHL since March 11 as Andersen's save percentage cratered below .900 this month.  

How can the players help their embattled goalie? 

"We can do lots of stuff," said defenceman Morgan Rielly. "We can block more shots, we can break out smoother, less odd-man rushes, I mean, there’s lots of areas of our game we can clean up. That’s what we’ll work on here the upcoming week and try to get ready for the playoffs."

This week is the first time Toronto is holding a practice on consecutive days since Jan. 21-22, which was before the all-star break. Friday's session will be focused on special teams work and should allow Andersen to get some one-on-one time with goalie coach Steve Briere. 

Whether it's Andersen playing better or the defence tightening up in front of him, it's clear something has to change and soon. 

"You got to be able to keep it out of your net," said Babcock. "All you got to do is look at the standings and you go goals for and goals against and if you’re minus you’re not in the playoffs. It’s so simple, it’s not even funny. We can do all these stats that we all think are important, that’s important."

A scan of the standings shows every playoff team with a positive goal differential, while the Columbus Blue Jackets are the only team on the outside looking in with a positive goal differential. 

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Lines at Thursday’s practice: 

Forwards
Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Kapanen
Ennis-Gauthier-Brown
Moore, Petan

Defencemen
Rielly-Hainsey
Muzzin-Zaitsev
Marincin-Dermott
Holl-Ozhiganov
Gardiner

Goaltenders
Andersen
Sparks
Woll