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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TSN Maple Leafs reporter Kristen Shilton checks in with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs held a morning skate at Prudential Center before playing the New Jersey Devils at 7:30 p.m.

* For everything that’s changed about the Maple Leafs since their last meeting with the Devils on November 23, one thing hasn’t – holding on to leads still isn’t their forte. They blew two advantages in Newark last time, at 3-0 and again at 4-3. The trend has resurfaced with a vengeance in recent weeks, as Toronto blew leads in four of their last six games. “That’s kind of been the theme as of late, not being able to close out those games,” Auston Matthews said. “So it’s definitely going to be another challenge for us tonight against a good, structured team that’s very good defensively. They play very well without the puck so it’s going to be another tough night but we definitely want the two points.” Toronto hasn’t stayed stagnant in many ways this season, and they see themselves as having made strides since these last six weeks. “I think we’re a little better defensively. Not necessarily the last couple games, but we’ve definitely grown as a group defensively,” said Matt Martin. “And then confidence-wise. When you string wins together like we have lately, you start to believe in yourself a little more. It’s a work in progress every day.” The growing pains have been no surprise to Mike Babcock, who was notably unhappy with Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Washington Capitals  and said you’d have to look far back to find a game with a similar level of performance. “Sometimes we get in our own way, but guys are really trying,” Babcock said. “Our whole group has committed to trying and working most every night. And we’ve done a lot of good things. Some nights we’re not as good as others, which is natural, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”

* Morgan Rielly was the only player not on the ice for Toronto at morning skate, because of what Babcock later reveled was a maintenance day. Forward Josh Leivo wore a black practice jersey and took Rielly’s place alongside Nikita Zaitsev. When Leivo, who has played in only one game this season, gets back in the game at his position may not happen as soon as he’d like. “What happens is, you’re out of the lineup and the team’s going pretty good, they’re playing well, someone has to decline their opportunity” Babcock said. “And then when you get your opportunity, you play good. Leivo played really good in his opportunity, [but] we needed a centre, so [Frederik] Gauthier got in. So now you have to be hard between your ears and not get down and keep grinding. When you get your opportunity, you stay in.”

* As Matthews continues to draw more attention for his recent play, his linemates Zach Hyman and Connor Brown are coming into more focus for the national media. Hyman is the only player who has been on Matthews’ wing since game one. When asked why he placed the University of Michigan product there to begin with, Babcock referenced one of his most famous former players, who’s game Matthews himself has idolized. “Pavel Datsyuk always told me there wasn’t enough puck to go around for three guys,so you want somebody to go get it back for you,” he said. “[Datsyk] liked having someone to go get it back for him, so I’m trying to use the same thing with Auston. Auston likes the puck, we need someone to get it to him. I saw [Hyman] play last year, I saw him play at Michigan, saw him do what he’s doing for Auston for [Dylan] Larkin, saw him doing it last year here.” When the team got Matthews, Hyman was a clear choice to see how he would mesh with Matthews, and the results have been extremely positive.

* Martin is the Maple Leafs career leader in games against the Devils (28) and penalty minutes (26) from his seven seasons with the New York Islanders. For his final three years, Martin played almost exclusively with Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas, whereas he’s been the only constant over 37 games this season for the Maple Leafs’ fourth line. Since Ben Smith went down with injury, Martin has seen his playing time decrease too to less than seven minutes some nights. Now playing with two rookies in Gauthier and Nikita Soshnikov, Martin hasn't registered a point in his last 16 games. “Having so many different linemates, you can’t rely on chemistry essentially,” Martin said. “Coming from the team I came from, [our line] didn’t have to do a whole lot of talking on the ice, we understood where we were going to be all the time. Right now it’s still a work in progress I think, trying to learn our tendencies and where guys want to be on the ice and in what situations they want the puck and when they don’t.”

* After one of the most memorable gold medal games in World Juniors history, culminating in a shootout win for the USA over Canada on Thursday, Matthews gets to collect on his wager with Babcock. His coach will be turning over a bottle of wine to the rookie, who said it will “feel really nice” to reap the reward from his bench boss. Matthews wasn’t able to exercise his eligibility and play in the tournament, and admitted to feeling a twinge of jealousy he wasn’t out there for the win. “You watch them lift the gold medal and the trophy and everything, it would obviously be nice,” he said. “It’s always fun representing your country. I’m really good friends with a lot of guys on that team so I’m very happy for them.” Matthews revealed he, Connor Carrick and Jake Gardiner were wildly outnumbered by Canadian teammates while they watched, and said it’s not often he gets to sit back and enjoy a game like that as a fan.