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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The Maple Leafs held a team meeting while the Senators held a morning skate ahead of tonight's game. 

• With Mitch Marner (upper body) out for at least the next two games, Mike Babcock has juggled his lines reuniting Auston Matthews with William Nylander. The rookies started the season as a dynamic duo, but haven't played together much recently. "Well, obviously, I don't go to it very often so I can't like it that much," Babcock explained. "The biggest thing I find with them is: really talented guys, they both can really shoot the puck, there's only so many shooters on a line." The coach prefers having Connor Brown and Zach Hyman with Matthews. "What I like about that group is they're just getting the puck to Matthews all the time and he knows they're getting it to him and it's not a bad deal, because he shoots it in the net a lot. So, to me, I like to spread those guys (Matthews and Nylander) out a little bit. Now, in saying that, I'm pretty sure Willy would like to play with Matty so here's your opportunity. How long you get to do it is up to you." 

"We've played a little bit off and on together and we've had some chemistry," said Nylander. "It's fun when we play together for sure." Nylander has picked up seven points in the last seven games. What does Matthews notice? "He's all over the puck," the centre said. "He's skating. He's probably the best skater on the team so when he's doing that he can just manoeuvre around people with ease so with his skill-set it's pretty tough to contain him." Nylander was riding shotgun with Matthews on opening night when the teenager torched Ottawa for four goals. But the last two times the provincial rivals have faced off, Matthews has played with Brown posting just one assist.  

• The job of containing the Matthews line on Saturday night will likely fall to Erik Karlsson. The Senators captain sat beside Matthews in the Eastern Conference dressing room at the All-Star game last month in Los Angeles. "He's a very young guy, but he's very mature," Karlsson said. "He's grown up a lot and he's seen a lot and he's done a lot of things already that most people at that age haven't done. I just enjoyed seeing that side of him, because it's not easy to be as successful as he is at an early age like that. I felt like he had it pretty much figured out." Matthews appreciated that Karlsson was so easygoing and even brought up the four-goal game on his own. 
 

Matthews and Karlsson created a buzz on Twitter thanks to a picture posted by the NHLPA account of the pair laughing while looking at Matthews' cellphone. "I got a lot of heat from Leo (Komarov) for it," Matthews said with a laugh. "I forget what I was showing him. I think it was something the Senators tweeted out about me and him sitting next to each other. We both found it really funny." 
 

"He better not be laughing on the ice tonight," Nazem Kadri said with a chuckle, when asked about the picture. Indeed, Matthews knows he's in for a battle. "Karlsson competes on both sides of the puck," Matthews said. "He'll make a good defensive play and then jump around you and jump in on offence. Obviously, when you're a d-man and you can put up pretty much a point per game every year you're a pretty special player."

• Nylander has three assists in the three games against Ottawa this season and has a five-on-five shot attempt percentage of 65.1 against the Senators. He admits that playing against a Swedish star like Karlsson is a source of motivation. "Yeah, it's pretty cool," he said. "But I just want focus on the game and not too much on playing against him." Karlsson has noticed a big improvement from his countryman this season. "He's really matured this year," Karlsson noted. "He's starting to turn into the player that he one day will be. He's done a good job in both zones. He's still a young guy and he's got a lot of upside to come." Karlsson has fond memories of playing against Michael Nylander at the start of his career. Does he see similarities between father and son? "Yeah, a little bit. They have a little bit of a different stick, but other than that they move pretty much the same and they do a lot of similar things out there."

• Karlsson isn't the only obstacle Matthews and Nylander must get around tonight. The system implemented by Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher can be suffocating. "They obviously play that trap system," Matthews said. "For us, we don't want to mess around with the puck in the neutral zone. We just got to get in behind them with speed coming in through the middle and just try and arrive first before their D and play below the dots here tonight. It's going to be pretty muddy there so we got to get past that." Babcock said he's expecting a "traffic jam" in the neutral zone much like what played out on Thursday night in New Jersey when the Senators shutout the Devils 3-0 allowing just 21 shots on net. "It will be somewhat of a chess match," Kadri said. "I watched their game against New Jersey and structurally they were as good as I've ever seen them." So, how do you break the trap? "Just simplify," Kadri said. "Speed's our identity. That's going to be a huge factor. I really do feel like we play similar styles. We do rely a lot on our structure to create offence and we have forwards who can skate."

Senators defenceman Marc Methot, who returns to the lineup in Toronto after missing the game against the Devils due to an illness, liked how his teammates were "boring the game down" in the third period and not trading chances. The recipe will be the same against the Leafs. "We know who we're playing tonight," Methot said. "There's a lot of speed, a lot of youth. They like to go and run and gun a little bit once in awhile. They are structured. They have a great coach there. but with that youth, that's something we have to watch." Fredrik Claesson is expected to be the odd man out on the Senators blue line. 

• Bobby Ryan is the latest Senator to be hit by an illness. The winger missed the morning skate. "I told him to stay at the hotel," Boucher said. "He's feeling better now than he did during the night, but we'll see." If Ryan plays, Curtis Lazar is expected to be scratched. Craig Anderson starts for the Senators. 

• Chris Neil, who has sat out three of the last four games, will be in the lineup against the Leafs. "Well, Neiler had one of his best games here, first of all," said Boucher when asked why the tough guy will draw in. "He had a nice assist the last time we were here. They have some physical players there and I think Neiler brings a physical presence." The coach also noted the Air Canada Centre will likely be jumping on a Saturday night and Neil has the experience to adjust well to the atmosphere. With Toronto and Ottawa separated by just three points, it's one of the most important instalments in the Battle of Ontario in a long time. Is the rivalry entering a new stage? "It is," Kadri said. "This is the best I've ever seen it, that's for sure. It's definitely exciting. The magnitude of this game is huge."
 

• During an interview on Friday's edition of Leafs Lunch on TSN 1050, Babcock suggested Toronto won't be very active at the trade deadline. Does he hope those comments will keep anxiety from creeping into the dressing room? "Well, that was the intent, right," he said with a grin. "I should have come out and said, 'We'll be just flying.' I'm trying to help out. I think we're owned by (television stations) so the more buzz you can create the better it is for them, but, nah." Babcock cautioned that the Leafs aren't interested in the rental market. "This is the way I look it it: we have a long-term project here and we understand that totally. If you can ever improve your team for the future I think it's way different than when you think you're going to win the Cup and have an opportunity and you need more bodies. That's not our situation whatsoever." Babcock also outlined why non-rental deals will be hard to come by. "There are two things that are involved this year. One, everyone looks like they're the same (in the standings) and they're still in it and the second thing is there's an expansion draft (looming). So, there's two parts that make it way different this year. Now, I know we have to sell ratings and a TV show and all that. What's the date? March 1st. But, I wouldn't be holding my breath."

• Much like on Tuesday, the Leafs cancelled their morning skate. Here's the projected lineup based on Friday's practice: 

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Brown
Komarov-Kadri-Leivo 
Martin-Smith-Soshnikov 

Rielly-Zaitsev 
Gardiner-Carrick 
Hunwick-Polak

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