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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 Maple Leafs held an optional skate and team meeting at the MasterCard Centre before heading to Boston for Game 7. 

Jake Gardiner says he’s never heard the Air Canada Centre louder than it was on Monday night for Game 6 against the Boston Bruins.

“I was doing an interview after the game and I couldn’t even hear the questions being asked,” the Maple Leafs defenceman said. 

How did he answer the questions? 

“I’m not even sure,” Gardiner said with a chuckle. “I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t even know what I said. I blacked out.”

The Leafs haven’t won a playoff series in 14 years. Only the fans of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have never won a series, and the Florida Panthers have gone longer without seeing their team advance past the opening round. 

"They showed how badly they want it today,” winger Connor Brown said in a jubilant dressing room on Monday evening. “You can tell how hungry they are and we're just as hungry.”

Of course, Toronto was painfully close to the second round the last time the franchise took part in a Game 7. Brown recalls watching the collapse in 2013 on his laptop. He was in Ireland and it was the middle of the night. Mitch Marner was at his home in Toronto as the Leafs grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory. 

“I turned off the TV and went upstairs and started playing video games,” Marner said. “As a Toronto kid, it was pretty heartbreaking to watch. Hopefully it’s a different result this time around.”

The new kids on the block like Marner and Brown now have a chance to help the five holdovers from that 2013 series write a fresh chapter in the Toronto-Boston story. Back to the scene of the crime they go. Head coach Mike Babcock described this as “the chance of a lifetime."

The stakes are high, but there was no sense of apprehension in the Leafs dressing room after Tuesday's team meeting. 

“The pressure’s kind of off us,” Gardiner insisted. “We’re going to go into that building, it’s going to be rocking and we’re going to be ready to go. When we were down 3-1, I don’t think anyone expected us to come back and now that we’re here it’s a good opportunity.”

The Leafs certainly seem like a loose group right now. In Game 5, they held on for dear life down the stretch, but in Game 6 they closed the door in the third period. 

"We don’t want to sit back,” said Marner, the team's most consistent contributor throughout the series. “We're done with that."

Marner’s quick backhand pass to Tomas Plekanec led to the empty-net goal that sealed Game 6. 

“Last night we executed better,” observed defenceman Morgan Rielly. “Like that last goal where Mitch made the play on the wall to the middle, that’s a tough play. You got to make that play under pressure and keep composed and he makes a good pop play to the middle and it ends up in a goal for us so I think that’s a big difference. I think just the experience from game to game, I think, is important and now we’ve played two games where we’ve been playing for our lives, I think that's going to help us."

The third period may have been Toronto’s best of the series as they successfully defended a one-goal lead, even surviving a late Boston power play.

“I think we made more plays than we did in Game 5 as opposed to just putting pucks on the wall,” Rielly said, “and I think that’s just an example of being used to being in that position and I think that’s important.”

The Bruins have the edge in Game 7 experience, but they’ve had the edge in experience all series. At the moment, the Leafs seem to have momentum or, at the very least, a newfound comfort level in their own game. 

“I don't know if it's looser or if it's just called confidence,” said Babcock, who is 3-5 in Game 7s as a NHL head coach. “In the National Hockey League, anytime it's not going your way you've got to dig your way back. I think because we had a foundation of confidence and thinking we're a good team, we were able to do that. Without that, you'd have just been done. I think that's positive. 

“Now, in saying that, this is a brand-new slate. Here you go. The puck is going to get dropped and who's going to execute early and get on top of the other team. I think that's one of the keys in Game 7 for me.”

The Bruins will ice at least eight players who have won a Game 7 in the NHL. The Leafs will have five players who have won a Game 7 in their lineup on Wednesday night: Plekanec (4-1), Patrick Marleau (3-3), Ron Hainsey (2-0), James van Riemsdyk (2-1) and Roman Polak (1-0). 

JvR has a win (2010) and a loss (2013) at TD Garden in the ultimate deciding game. What’s he doing to stay calm these days? 

“I’m watching Ray Donovan so there’s a bit of a Boston tie in to that show so that’s nice,” he said with a grin. “But, I don’t know, just focus on doing your job and executing. You don’t want to do anything too crazy or do anything that’s not the type of player that you are.”

How would he describe an NHL Game 7 to his neophyte teammates? 

“There’s no more bullets left in the chamber,” he said. “This is it. This is your last shot to move on or go home so the desperation gets amplified.”

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After missing four games with a lower-body injury, Leo Komarov is ready to return to game action, but Babcock isn’t sure if the 31-year-old will play in Game 7. 

“I talked to Leo after the game,” Babcock revealed. “I talked to him again today. He's now in a position (where) he could go. My big question is, it's going fast out there and you haven't played. I've got to make a decision and I'm sure I'll have that done by tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.”

The likeliest candidates to come out should Komarov play would be Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen. 

It's a tough call for Babcock, who has leaned heavily on Komarov during much of the season. 

“I can tell you Leo is going in for sure,” Babcock said on March 26 when asked how he could find playing time for the impressive Johnsson when Komarov returned from an injury, “we need a heavy body and a penalty killer. He's a man. That's just the way it is.”

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William Nylander was the only Leaf that played in Game 6 who decided to take part in Tuesday’s optional practice. The Swede, a rink rat courtesy of his days growing up around NHL dressing rooms when his dad Michael Nylander played, rarely misses a chance to hit the ice. His hard work paid off on Monday night when he scored his first goal of the series. 

“I thought Willie had his most competitive game last night,” Babcock said. “I thought Willie got his confidence back. He was forechecking, he was tracking, he was banging people, he was going to the net. That's good for us. It's hard out there, there's no room. You've got to make your own room, you've got to compete for your own room. I thought he did that last night.”

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Nylander wasn’t the only Leaf who appeared to get on track in Monday’s win. Nikita Zaitsev led Toronto’s defence with a 53% CorsiFor rating. Gardiner wasn’t far behind as that pairing was effective while being matched mostly against Boston’s second and third lines. 

“I thought Zaitsev was great,” said Babcock. “I’m never in the pool that's not the Zaitsev fan, that's just the people on the outside. We think he's ultra-competitive, some nights it doesn't go as good for the D. If they're all over you, it's hard to make plays. I thought Z did a real good job.” 

There was one play from Game 5, in particular, that Babcock wanted to highlight, which showed Zaitesv’s growing confidence. 

“The game before, the first shift of the game in Boston, the puck was rimmed, it was a dirty rim, the guy was right on top of him. To come back and take it off the wall, pop it into the middle. That just sends [a] message to [the] whole team of, ‘Hey, we're fine here, just relax.’ It’s important for our D to execute and obviously he’s a big part of things.”

Zaitsev also chipped in with two assists, his first points of the series, on Monday while logging 21:16 of ice time. 

“That was big for us,” said Gardiner, who played 25:22, firing four shots on net. “I thought we both played well. There’s been times in the series where it’s been one or the other, kind of, and last night was good for both of us. For us to succeed as a team, I think our defence is a big part of breaking pucks out and playing solid defensively and if we do that I think it gives us a good chance.”

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The Leafs will hold a morning skate at TD Garden at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.