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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 practised at the MasterCard Centre on Friday before travelling to Pittsburgh. 

When the Penguins hosted the Maple Leafs on Dec. 9, the Sidney Crosby line was matched against the Auston Matthews unit most of the night and it didn’t go well for Toronto’s sophomore centre. Crosby fired seven shots on net, equalling a season high, while scoring once. Matthews, meanwhile, failed to generate a shot on net for just the second time in his career. The shot attempts when both players were on the ice at even strength favoured Pittsburgh 18-0.

Did Matthews, who played with Zach Hyman and Connor Brown in that game, learn anything from the experience? What stood out about Crosby? 

“I don’t know if I really need to explain what stands out about the best player in the world,” he said. “Obviously, he does everything. He’s as good as he is for a reason. He’s smart, makes everyone around him better. I don’t think I need to tell you that.”

Will the task be any easier now that Matthews has more experience playing against No. 87? 

“I don’t think it gets easier,” Matthews said. “I think you just learn (from) those top guys, kind of the ins and outs and little things that they do that gives them an edge over other guys.”

“Play him tighter, play him harder,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock suggested. “The tendency is, when it’s a real good player, you back off and you give him space. And, what do they want? They want space. I promise you Sid will play good tomorrow, so we’re going to have to play good, too.”​

Like Matthews, Morgan Rielly was matched against Crosby in December. It’s not the first time he’s gone head-to-head with the two-time Hart Trophy winner and it won't be the last. 

“It’s consistently a hard challenge,” the defenceman said. “I think that the way he skates, the way he plays the game, it’s as big as it gets as far as a matchup challenge.”

And it’s even harder when Crosby is on a roll. Nobody has picked up more points since the calendar turned to 2018 than the Penguins captain, who has 31 in 19 games. 

What has James van Riemsdyk picked up about Crosby over the years? 

“You really get an appreciation for how smart he is,” the winger noted. “I mean, obviously, he’s got all the skill and stuff like that, but the puck always seems to find him in those situations and (smiles) people may think that’s lucky but that’s by no accident. He’s in the right spots. He plays a way that’s a little bit different, I would say, than most guys, but he’s so successful, because he’s so smart.”

* Shot-attempt statistic courtesyhttp://www.naturalstattrick.com

Gardiner misses practice, status for Saturday uncertain 

Crosby is tied for fourth in NHL scoring (66 points) with four other players, including teammates Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. Pittsburgh's leading scorers are all currently on different lines so the challenge for the Leafs was always going to be a big one on Saturday. It will be even bigger if Jake Gardiner is unable to play. Toronto’s leader in ice time and points by a defenceman missed practice on Friday. 

“(I) plan on playing him tomorrow and then when I come in tomorrow they’ll give me the news,” Babcock said of the medical staff’s assessment of Gardiner on Saturday. 

It was Connor Carrick who filled in alongside Nikita Zaitsev at Friday’s workout. 

Gardiner left Wednesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first period with what the team called a lower-body injury. 

“He’s got some kind of spasm or something like that,” Babcock explained after the game. “He just couldn’t get it to relax or whatever. They wouldn’t let him come back … they knew he had it, but he thought he was fine. When he got out there he wasn’t fine.”

Extra forwards Josh Leivo and Matt Martin both skated as defencemen during Friday’s practice. 

“They could get more work instead of standing and missing reps and we didn’t wear out six D with a game tomorrow,” Babcock explained. “I wanted a way to get them more reps.”

Leafs test out white outdoor game gear 

At Friday’s practice, the Leafs started to work in the white gloves and white pants they’ll use in the outdoor game against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, March 3, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

“The vision was a little bit tough today with all the white whirling around,” van Riemsdyk said with a chuckle. “Hopefully we get more used to it as time goes on.”

When the uniform design was revealed last Saturday, Tyler Bozak joked it may be tough for the Leafs to see each other if it snows. But JvR believes the camouflage effect may be a positive. 

“We could have an advantage,” he said. "Maybe sneak an extra guy on the ice for some of the game.”

Babcock, for his part, declined to answer a question about the all-white uniforms. 

Soshnikov gets ‘new lease on (hockey) life’

When Nikita Soshnikov made his NHL debut in February 2016, he immediately emerged as a favourite of Babcock, impressing the coach with his hard-nosed, aggressive game. So, it’s no surprise that Babcock reached out via a phone call to wish the Russian winger well after he was traded by Toronto to the St. Louis Blues for a fourth-round draft pick on Thursday. 

“(Blues GM) Doug Armstrong is a personal friend of mine and this is a real good opportunity for Sosh,” Babcock said. “Sosh is a real good kid. He got injured, things didn’t go well for him and he got off track a little bit, but he’s a good kid. He can be a good penalty killer, can play with speed, he can play with some nastiness and I think he’ll fit in good there. It’s important to Sosh that he gets a new lease on life and does something with it. We’re happy for Sosh that he got a good opportunity in a good organization and … those guys will look after him good.”

Despite wins, Babcock sees slip in D-zone play

What did Babcock like best about his team’s perfect 5-0-0 run at home? 

“Winning,” he said with a smile. “I like winning. It sounds good, too. ‘Winning.’ ”

But despite the hot streak, there was a definite edge to Babcock at Friday’s 40-minute practice, which was preceded by a video session that focused on defensive-zone play. Toronto has been giving up a lot of shots of late, including a whopping 57 against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday. Frederik Andersen was very strong in the win while Nazem Kadri produced five points to lead the offensive attack. 

“Any time you get going good and you’re playing good, human nature is things start slipping and sometimes you get away with more than you should and that was probably one of (those games),” Babcock said. “We had Naz’s line really going and Freddie so we were able to win the game, but we got to be way better. We got to work way harder and sort things out in our own zone.”

Lines at Friday’s practice: 

Forwards
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander 
Marleau-Kadri-Marner 
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Brown 
Komarov-Moore-Kapanen 

Defencemen
Rielly-Hainsey 
Carrick-Zaitsev 
Dermott-Polak 
Martin-Leivo 

Goaltenders
Andersen 
McElhinney 

Power-play units at Friday’s practice: 

Rielly
Bozak-Kadri-Marner 
van Riemsdyk

Carrick 
Matthews-Marleau-Nylander 
Brown