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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Leafs held a team meeting while the New Jersey Devils skated at the Air Canada Centre ahead of tonight's game.

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- After a series of emotionally charged games against teams in the playoff race, the Maple Leafs will host the last-place Devils on Thursday night. "Good teams win every single day," said head coach Mike Babcock. "They just come in and are machine-like and they get prepared and they dig in and they find a way to do it. So that's obviously our day of preparation and, yet, if you're [the players], you don't want to hear very much this morning either. It's a fine line there, but we need to be ready to go tonight. They're going to be jumping. They've got a lot of kids in their lineup. So we've got to be ready to play." New Jersey has won just two of 14 games, but one of those wins was on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers. "These last 10 games are important," Devils winger Taylor Hall insisted. "I used to think that it was cliché to say the last few games lead into your summer and then your next year, but I really do think that's true now. It really does give you a sense of confidence both as a group and an individual if you can finish strong." When did Hall change his view of this? "Last year was a good learning experience," he explained. "I probably didn't play as well as I wanted to down the stretch and that maybe made me a guy that they wanted to move or whatever. Looking back, the best seasons that I've had they were followed by other good seasons, because I finished well."

- Eric Fehr (upper body) will miss Thursday's game and his status for the rest of the season is in jeopardy. "He stayed overnight there [in Columbus] and when he comes back we'll know more," Babcock said. With Fehr sidelined, Josh Leivo will draw back into the lineup. Leivo has sat as a healthy scratch in 10 straight games last playing on Feb. 28 in San Jose. Leivo racked up nine points in his eight most recent games. Nikita Soshnikov will miss a second straight game due to injury.

 

- With Roman Polak suspended, Alexey Marchenko will return to the lineup on Thursday. The Russian defenceman has been a healthy scratch in four of the last six games. He played fewer than 12 minutes in his two most recent outings. 

Keith Kinkaid starts for the Devils while Curtis McElhinney gets the call for the Leafs. 

- As the games get tighter and tighter, Leo Komarov seems to be more and more noticeable. Babcock, for one, isn't surprised. "I just think the more competitive it gets the better it is for the guys that are little bit nasty," the coach noted. "They like having fun with that. It gets them going. I thought last night's game was like that. They [Columbus] abused us pretty good the last time we were in there so our guys were more engaged this time." Komarov insists he's not doing much different these days. "It's more you guys talking about getting under the skin," he said when asked about being an agitator. "I'm just trying to play hard." But the 30-year-old admits this playoff race has been incredibly enjoyable. "Last year, it was kind of packing your bag already, but now you actually have something to play for and it's really nice, because this is hockey. It's nice to be around here. I've been here for a while and I've played one playoffs and there's really good memories from that so I hope we're going to make it and we just have to keep going. It's not good enough [yet]."

Komarov is one of a handful of players remaining from the Game 7 collapse in Boston during the 2013 playoffs. Is this season a chance for redemption? "I mean, first of all we need to make the playoffs and then we can start talking about that," he said. "It took us awhile to get over it. It was a tough one, but ... you get over it and you don't remember it anymore until you guys bring it up again." During the meltdown in Beantown, head coach Randy Carlyle shortened his bench in the third period and Komarov didn't see the ice for the final 17:51 of regulation and all of overtime. This season, Komarov has emerged as one of Babcock's most trusted players. He averages 17:04 of ice time per game and usually faces the top line on the other team. Among Toronto forwards, only Auston Matthews sees the ice more than Komarov. 

- While Komarov and the Leafs are closing in on a playoff berth, Hall and the Devils are preparing for another long off-season. For Hall, it's a bitter pill to swallow especially since his old team is poised to end its lengthy playoff drought. Will he be rooting for his old friends in Edmonton? “In the playoffs? No, I don't think I will," he said with a small smile. Is there much chatter with his buddies and former teammates? "I've kept in touch with a few guys there. It's a weird dynamic," Hall said. "You're happy for your friends that they're doing well and they're going to experience the playoffs, but you can't help but be a bit jealous. There's no two ways about it."

 

Hall noted it's unlikely he will play for Team Canada at the world championship this spring, because he needs to rest some nagging injury issues. So, does he plan on watching the NHL playoffs? "My first couple seasons in the league I probably watched every game I could," he said. "I was still excited to be in the league and didn't really think I'd have a chance to win a Cup at that point in my career. Now that I'm seven seasons in, it's tough to watch and know that I haven't even experienced a playoff game yet. In saying that, as the playoffs go on and as I take more time away from hockey I do indulge more in the games. You can't help, but watch and learn from what these guys do at the highest level."

- Devils coach John Hynes got a chance to coach Matthews with Team USA at the world championship last year. Now, almost one year later, what sort of development does he see in the first overall pick? "Not surprised that he's had the success he's had," Hynes noted. "Where his game's developed, I just think on the defensive side of the puck there's a little bit more responsibility, awareness, attention to detail." If the playoff race is anything like the worlds, then Matthews is going to play a big role. "You're playing some of the elite teams in that tournament and that's when he played his best hockey, in the biggest games against the toughest opponents," Hynes recalled.