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TSN Toronto Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Maple Leafs, who practised at Ford Performance Centre on Friday ahead of Game 2 of Toronto's first-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

With John Tavares sidelined indefinitely, Nick Foligno will move to the middle and take over as the team's second-line centre. 
 
"We don't have an abundance of options," explained coach Sheldon Keefe. "Nick has played a lot of centre. He played a lot of centre in Columbus before he came here this season. Even when he plays left wing, Nick ends up spending a lot of time playing low in the defensive zone. He is usually high in the offensive zone. He is usually the first guy back. He is very comfortable playing down low in our own end. It is a natural fit."
 
The 33-year-old actually volunteered for the job. 
 
"He was more than willing," Keefe pointed out. "Even last night on the bench, he was telling me he is more than comfortable playing centre to fill in for John if I needed him to. We used him a little bit there yesterday. We will look to give him more time there tomorrow."
 
Foligno has lined up on the wing in all eight games he's played with Toronto since being acquired from Columbus at the trade deadline.
 

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Alex Galchenyuk, a healthy scratch in Game 1, skated alongside Foligno and William Nylander at practice. 
 
"Chucky's a great forechecker," said veteran forward Jason Spezza. "Nicky's a guy that's played centre this year probably more than he has in the past, because of some of the moves they made in Columbus, so he's comfortable there. Just a heavy line. Willy was phenomenal last night so he's going to continue that. They're going to be a good, strong forechecking line and then Willy's got the touch."
 
Galchenyuk revived his NHL career in Toronto this season while playing mostly alongside Tavares and Nylander. But with Zach Hyman returning from injury in Game 1, he was squeezed out of the top-six equation. 
 
Galchenyuk picked up a point in five of his final seven regular season games.

Pierre Engvall will also draw in on Saturday night after being a scratch in Game 1. He scored a goal in three of his last four regular season games.
 
"Both guys bring degrees of speed and skill," Keefe noted. "The dynamics of our group change when John is not in. I just feel we have to make some changes to compensate for that and give us a little bit more of a push offensively."
 
Engvall skated on the third line with centre Alex Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev on Friday.
 
"He brings a lot of energy, a lot of speed," said Kerfoot. "He's a hard guy to play against just with how long he is (6-foot-5) and how fast he is. I've played with him a lot this year and like playing with him. I think the three of us can do a good job." 
 Sidelined with a knee sprain since April 4, shutdown centre Riley Nash made his Leafs debut in Game 1, but will be the odd man out on Saturday. 
 
"I thought he was fine," Keefe said. "We had five penalties to kill so I was glad we had him on our bench. He did a good job for us, but with John coming out of the lineup, it changes the dynamic of our forward group. I feel like we need some different elements going into tomorrow."
 
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Rocket Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews fired eight shots on net on Thursday, but couldn't beat Carey Price. It was the first time in 11 games against Montreal this season that he was held without a point. 
 
"We got to up our intensity level a little bit," Matthews said. "Last night, we had our chances, we had our looks and weren't able to get it done so that's on us ... We want to keep shooting and creating those chances and, in our minds, it's going to go in eventually." 
 
Mitch Marner produced five shots while Hyman fired four in his return from an MCL sprain. Per NaturalStatTrick, the Leafs outshot the Canadiens 13-3 in the 11 minutes that the top line was on the ice in five-on-five play. 
 
"If they have a night they don't score, they're looking to come back hungry," said Spezza. "We got lots of confidence in those guys. They're the least of our worries."
 
Hyman drew two penalties on Thursday while Matthews drew a roughing call on Ben Chiarot and smiled broadly as the Montreal defenceman attempted to goad him into a retaliation call. 

 What's the key to dealing with Montreal's physical play? 
 
"Just fighting through it and moving our feet," Matthews said. "We're going to draw penalties more and more. Other than the power-play goal against, I thought the power play was pretty good last night. We had some really good chances, a couple posts, but I thought we moved it around pretty well and got some good looks."
 
Toronto's power play finished the game 0-for-4 and allowed the game-winning goal in the third period. The Leafs are now 6-for-82 on the man advantage since March 4 while also allowing six goals in that stretch. 
 
"Our first two power plays of the game were probably as good as our power play has looked in a really long time," Keefe said. "We hit the post on the first one, hit the crossbar on the second one, and had more than enough really good looks."
 
Montreal ended up outhitting Toronto 55-27, but Keefe felt that number was misleading. 
 
"The physicality of the game didn't surprise us at all," the coach said. "They started off really physical. I thought they definitely had an edge in the first 10 minutes of the game. Beyond that, I thought there wasn't a whole lot to it. I don't know who counts the hits in the game, but they are definitely not a Leafs fan. We do need to, as a team, be more engaged right from the drop of the puck."
 

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Campbell did not take part in Friday's 15-minute practice. Keefe termed it a maintenance day. 
 
The 29-year-old goalie missed time this season with a nagging leg injury and he seemed to be favouring his left leg during a sequence early in the third period on Thursday when Morgan Rielly made a block to deny a Josh Anderson shot toward an open net.
 
"He's very, very slowly getting up so, for me, that is a question mark," said TSN analyst Martin Biron, a former NHL goalie. "The only chance he faced the rest of the game was the Paul Byron short-handed goal." 

 What happened on that Byron goal? 
 
"Not really sure," Campbell said on Thursday night. "It looked like he was waiting for me to go out to charge the puck and I held back and somehow it kind of luckily went up and over my shoulder."
 
 
Earlier this season, Campbell was really hard on himself after losses, but that wasn't the case following his Stanley Cup playoff debut. 
 
"I felt great all night," he said curtly when asked if he felt out of position on Anderson's first-period tally. 

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Toronto's oldest player and its youngest player were on the ice for both of Montreal's goals on Thursday. Joe Thornton, 41, turned the puck over on the plays leading to the goals while Rasmus Sandin, 21, was the closest defenceman to the scorer each time. 
 
"A lot of our players needed to be better last night," Keefe said. "There are big moments that stand out, of course, and that is what playoff hockey is: moments and mistakes here or there that make the difference. Those will stand out to you. Watching the game back here today, I found both guys — whether it is power play or at five-on-five — did some positive things for us. That was encouraging."
 
Assistant coach Dave Hakstol, who oversees the defence, had a lengthy chat with Sandin following Friday's practice. 
 
Sandin and partner Zach Bogosian were then among the last two players on the ice. The pair started a game together on April 20, but Bogosian hurt his shoulder and didn’t return until Thursday. So, Game 1 against the Canadiens was the full first game together for them as a defence pair. 

 
Thornton finished with one shot and no hits while linemate Spezza ended up in the penalty box twice. 
 
"I've taken three penalties all year and then to take two in Game 1, that’s got to, obviously, not be there," Spezza said. "But five-on-five I think we actually did some good things. We have to be a heavy, physical line and control play. Most of our shifts have to end in their end and that's what we’re trying to do."  
 
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Tavares issued a statement on social media expressing gratitude for all the well wishes in the wake of his scary injury on Thursday. 
 
"The support I've felt since last night cannot be put into words. I'm thankful to share that I'm back home and recovering. Thank you to my family, friends, teammates, the Maple Leafs organization, Leafs Nation and the hockey community for being by my side."
 
Tavares' teammates said it was easier to get back to work on Friday having heard from their captain. The 30-year-old had texted the group chat after the game to let them know he was feeling better. He also reached out to some guys individually. 
 
"I don't think we've moved past it," said Rielly, who spoke to Tavares on the phone. "John's a huge part of our group and we're going to be thinking about him every day until he comes back. Here, today, the attitude was we have to get ready for Game 2 ... Nobody wants us to prepare and work more than him so, yeah, we're playing for him."
 
Added Spezza, "We want to win hockey games so we can get him back in the lineup."
 

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Lines at Friday's practice: 
 
Hyman - Matthews - Marner 
Galchenyuk - Foligno - Nylander
Engvall - Kerfoot - Mikheyev
Thornton - Spezza - Simmonds 
Brooks, Nash 
 
Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Sandin - Bogosian 
Dermott, Hutton, Marincin 
 
Andersen
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