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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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The Maple Leafs spent all of 21 minutes under Mike Babcock’s watchful eye at practice on Friday. By then, the head coach had seen enough.

As he’s done just one other time this season, Babcock hustled each player off the ice in short order. Eighteen hours earlier, those same players left the ice in Philadelphia following the latest in a string of disappointing losses. So on this day, there would be none of the usual extra time allotted for casual shootarounds.

“Play at night. If you want to screw around, come out and do that at optional [morning] skate tomorrow,” Babcock said afterwards at Canadian Tire Centre. “There’s lots of ice time [available]; we didn’t want to use it last night.”

In the aftermath of the Leafs’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers, a game they lead 2-0 after 40 minutes, Toronto finally hit a breaking point of sorts. Not only was it their fourth consecutive defeat, it was the fourth straight contest in which they had led or been tied late in the third period and made critical, game-defining mistakes.

Frederik Andersen was first to speak up, telling reporters post-game that, “we’ve got to figure out who wants to commit to playing for this team.” The fiery words were a departure for the soft-spoken goaltender, but his teammates said on Friday they reflected feelings throughout the dressing room. 

Babcock may not have appreciated Andersen’s choice of platform, but he was impressed with the message.

“It’s one thing when I say it; it’s a whole other thing when a good player on your team says it,” Babcock said. “Now, this is just me…I just assumed he’d come grab the coach, grab the staff, grab everybody, shut the door and we do it in-house. But we had some of that go on during the game too so I thought that was a real positive thing for our team yesterday and I think it’s important in taking a step.”

On paper, the Leafs are still a young team – four of their regular top-nine forwards are in just their second season. A year ago, Toronto fought until their second-to-last game of the season to clinch a playoff berth. This year, they’ve been entrenched in a postseason spot since ripping off a 6-1 record to start the campaign.

Expectations were immediately heightened, creating unchartered territory for a team with many players who haven’t had to manage them before.

That’s why Babcock was so encouraged by what he saw after Thursday’s loss – his players were demanding change of themselves.

“I thought we had good feistiness in our group post-game and some internal accountability stuff, which to me I’m always looking for,” he said. “To me, that’s the first sign that you might have a chance to actually do something.”

Jake Gardiner was in the middle of Sean Couturier’s game-winning goal in Philadelphia – he and William Nylander tracked to the same player in overtime, leaving Couturier open with a 2-on-1 chance.

No one among the Leafs pointed fingers when pressed about who blew their assignment, but about half of Friday’s practice was devoted to defending odd-man rushes.

“In this instance we did talk about it [afterwards] for an extended time, just to figure out what’s going on and try to close out game when we have leads,” Gardiner said. “Everyone is frustrated, but it’s because we all want to win and we want to get better. Sometimes that’s what it takes, to get upset, regroup and focus on the next one.”

That will come on Saturday, against an Ottawa Senators team that’s already beaten the Leafs twice this season. Toronto may be without Morgan Rielly – the defenceman nursing an upper-body injury suffered in the second period on Thursday and his status for Saturday is uncertain.

Regardless of their lineup, the important thing for Toronto will be turning all the right words into corresponding actions. The Leafs’ 12-point cushion on an Atlantic Division playoff spot (they sit third behind Tampa Bay and Boston) is no reason for complacency.

“We think we’re not living up to what we could do,” Babcock said. “…You’ve got to respond to these moments. But I really like the passion and the internal accountability that suddenly we have in our group.