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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – Over the first quarter of the NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had their growing pains. But when it comes to their seven rookies facing some of the biggest names in the game for the first time, the fresh faces have tried not to make getting starry-eyed one of them.

So when Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals roll in on Saturday night as Toronto looks to halt a three-game skid, there's no time to get caught staring.

“That’s what’s fun about the game, it’s fun going out and competing against the best,” Zach Hyman said. “Like playing against [Sidney] Crosby, he’s one of the best players in the world. But you’re not really in awe of [those guys], you just have to be aware when they’re on the ice because they make plays that other players can’t make.”

Ovechkin’s booming shot is always a threat, but as the Capitals power play has been especially effective recently, special teams loom large over Saturday’s matchup. After getting off to a slow start in that area, Washington has scored a goal on the man advantage in each of their last three games. Meanwhile, Toronto’s penalty kill, which was a major strength for them early in the season, has stumbled of late.

The Maple Leafs went 12-for-12 on the penalty kill through their first four games in November, but have given up three power play goals in their last three games. Their home penalty kill is 25th in the league, at 79.3 percent; on the road they’re 13th, at 84.4 percent.

“We’re in a little bit of a lull right now, we have to get back on track,” Hyman acknowledged. “I think it’s just about work ethic. We have guys out there who are willing to block shots, will get on the puck and I think if we don’t let the other team set up, they can’t really do anything.”

“Each game, we have a new plan because every team likes to do something different,” added Morgan Rielly. “Some of the goals we’ve had against us on the penalty kill, some of them have been lucky ones, there’s been some that we wish we could have back. [Washington] likes to use Ovehckin on that left side for his one-timer and that’s a threat. That being said, we have to put some pressure on them and make it tough. If we don’t let them into the zone, they won’t be scoring.”

One of the major assets for the penalty kill – and at even strength – has been the propensity of Maple Leafs throughout the lineup to block shots. Toronto is 11th in the league in that category, up from 25th a season ago. While head coach Mike Babcock said the best way to avoid facing the Capitals’ power play is “discipline” in staying out of the box, knowing there is no shortage of players willing to sacrifice the body to defend helps too.

“[Increased shot blocking] just happened naturally, we have lots of guy buying in, lots of guys who will do whatever it takes to win,” Rielly said. “When you have this many guys who want to win as badly as we do, it just happens. There’s no conversations going on about having to block shots but it’s just guys knowing it’s part of the game and it’s something we have to do.”

For the first month or so of the season, Rielly was only killing penalties, not seeing power play time. Now, he’s quarterbacking the top unit. He says the workload has been fine, but that unit could see some shakeup against Washington as well. Nikita Soshnikov began taking reps on the top unit in place of Nikita Zaitsev in practice on Friday, which carried over to Saturday’s morning skate. Toronto’s power play has produced three goals on 15 opportunities over the last five games. At home, it produces at only 13.3 percent versus 29.6 percent on the road, which is tops in the NHL. The power play unit at home has also allowed two shorthanded goals in the last three games.

Babcock is looking for the right combination to turn that unit into a momentum-builder again.

“That group hasn’t been as effective, so we’re just looking to see what available for us,” Babcock said of possibly slotting in Soshnikov. “The other thing that happened with [Martin] Marincin not being in the lineup every night, Zaitsev is killing way more. That’s part of it as well. Over a period of 20 games, it gives you a chance to analyze what’s gone on and see if this can help us.”

Morning skate notes

•  Toronto rolled their usual four lines at home, with Peter Holland, Josh Leivo, Frank Corrado and Martin Marincin set to be the scratches.

• Frederik Andersen will be back between the pipes after Jhonas Enroth started on Wednesday. Capitals’ coach Barry Trotz praised Andersen before the game, saying “I’ve always been a fan of his. They’ve got a real good goaltender in Andersen.”

• One player Babcock singled out in his presser was defenceman Jake Gardiner. “I think Gardiner’s been excellent here this last while.” Gardiner has two goals in his last four games.