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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who practised at Scotiabank Arena on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have played on the same line since just before Christmas, but after a dreadful California road trip head coach Sheldon Keefe is splitting up the good friends. At Monday's practice, Matthews was back with his initial NHL linemates, Zach Hyman and William Nylander, while Marner reunited with John Tavares. 

"Just change the chemistry a little bit," Keefe explained when asked about the moves. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In this case, we hope it can spark something for us."

Kasperi Kapanen skated alongside Tavares and Marner. The players downplayed the shuffle. 

"I don't think it changes much," Marner said. "The offence wasn't there the last week in California so maybe he threw something up to see what happens."

"Obviously, changes are made to get results," said Tavares. "With the type of skill and obviously the talent we have, we have a really good mixture of guys that can lend to a lot of good combinations."

The Leafs mustered just three goals against the Sharks, Kings and Ducks, the bottom-three teams in the Western Conference, and one of the goals (Marner in San Jose) was offside and would have been taken off the board had it been challenged. 

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A line shuffle won't do much if some underlying issues aren't addressed. 

"Our guys know what's at stake, but they're a little confused, I guess, themselves, in terms of why we've been so hot and cold," Keefe noted. 

But the coach, who ran one of his longest practices (55 minutes)​ since taking over from Mike Babcock in November, believes the answer is obvious. 

"There's definitely some structure pieces and some tactical elements to it, but we got to work," Keefe said. "We're looking to be able to replicate more of what we've done when things have gone well, which to me starts and ends with how engaged we are and how we work and how competitive we are in all situations. And when we do that it's amazing how much better our breakouts look, how much better our forecheck is, how much better we get the puck back in the offensive zone, how many more pucks you get to the net, how much better our power play looks, it's just amazing how all those things fall into place."

This has become the seemingly unsolvable problem for the Leafs. The players have echoed Keefe, but no one can explain why, on the eve of game No. 70, this is still an issue. After another underwhelming effort in Anaheim, Matthews said players weren't buying in completely to the team structure. 

"We're kind of one foot in the door, one foot out as far as the way we want to play and I think we just all need to be 100 per cent in," Matthews said after being held off the scoresheet for a second straight game. 

Tavares, the team captain, was asked how this could be the case. The 29-year-old pointed out that the games in Los Angeles and Anaheim were close and could have easily gone Toronto's way. Right now, the group seems to be missing a killer instinct. 

"We're putting a lot out there every single night," Tavares said. "Guys are committed and you want to do the right things and play at a high level ... We have to find a way to break through and be on the right side of it, make enough plays to get us the results we need. And it's every single shift. It's difficult every single day to have that same level of intensity and I think the intention, no question, it's there, but it's always continuing to find more and understand where we're at in the season, the margin for error is as small as it can be. So, we need to continue to build momentum, get results and find ways to get wins whether they're great win, whether they're ugly, just finding a way to get over the hump, especially at crucial times of the game and making enough plays to get us the result."

The Leafs seem to play down to their opposition. Six of their last nine losses have come against opponents outside of a playoff spot. 

"We've struggled with playing teams below us in the standings," observed veteran forward Jason Spezza, "and that's something we won’t have to worry about this week, because we're playing three good teams."

Toronto hosts Tampa on Tuesday and the Nashville Predators on Thursday before ending the week at TD Garden against the league-leading Boston Bruins. 

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The Leafs’ power play has missed out on 14 straight chances over the last five games, but the issues go back even further. In 14 games since Feb. 8, the Leafs’ efficiency rate is only 10.5 per cent (4/38), which ranks 29th in the NHL in that stretch. Considering the elite talent up front, that's hard to believe. 

"I think it's just a little stagnant," Matthews said after the game on Friday night. "I feel like we're just like a split-second slow in moving the puck and little plays here and there. It's just a split-second off."

Marner suggested that other teams are cheating to take away the Matthews shot. 

Assistant coach Paul McFarland unveiled a tweak at practice on Monday. The personnel on the top unit remained the same, but Marner was getting more looks at the top of the zone with defenceman Tyson Barrie sliding to the side boards. 

"We're testing that thing out and kind of just seeing how it goes, but I think it'd be cool up there," said Marner, who is the facilitator on the unit. "I mean, you can see the ice a lot better and kind of tell what the D are going to do before they're going to do it so, for me, it's just trying to read that and, at the same time, try not to over-handle it too much and not try to make the perfect play every time."

Keefe pointed out that Toronto's scheme already calls for Marner to roll up high at times, but the team has gotten away from that during this punchless stretch. 

"We want to have that ability to be able to do that, change the look of our group just a little bit and change the path of the puck," Keefe said. "We do have some really good practice time this week, between each game all week, so we expect to practice three days this week, which we haven't had for quite some time so I don't know necessarily if you'll see anything we're doing right now in tomorrow night's game, but it is a good chance to introduce and evolve on the different things we're doing."

The Leafs power play struck twice on four attempts during a 4-3 win against the Lightning on Feb. 25 in Tampa. 

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The Leafs skated at Scotiabank Arena on Monday instead of their practice facility so that they could take the annual team photograph at centre ice. Keefe used the moment to make a broader point. 

"The reason you take a picture is to have a memory to be able to look back on," the coach said, relaying the message he told the players. "And we want to be able to look at our team picture and be proud of the group and remember the individuals fondly for the efforts and the things that people brought. That's what a picture represents are the memories and we do have the opportunity here to make the season a memorable one."

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After the loss in Anaheim, Marner had a warning for teammates. 

"For our team it's about staying off social media," he said. "People are just going to start getting on us."

How does Matthews deal with keyboard critics?

"Sometimes you just got to stay off it," he said. "You try not to let that stuff bother you, but obviously people are pretty ruthless at times. But, I don't know, it's something you try and manage and deal with. If you're not feeling too good about your game or maybe had a couple turnovers, probably don't check your Twitter mentions after and see all the profiles with no headers or no pictures just absolutely shredding your life in half. It's something that a lot times you can take a look at and kind of laugh at and then sometimes, obviously, your mental health is so important and just kind of stay off it and get away from it."

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Matthews arrived at the podium on Monday looked around and quipped, "This is different."

Concerns over the spread of the coronavirus have led NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS teams to limit dressing room access to essential personnel. On Monday, the Leafs conducted all interviews at a podium at the media centre.

Tavares, who kept his hands in his pockets throughout his media session, was asked if he was purposely avoiding touching the podium. He said he wasn't. 

"Honestly, I don't really think about it a whole lot other than just to wash my hands and use a sanitizer more frequently," Tavares said. "I haven’t changed the way I approach every day or how I live my life."

Players were asked about the possibility of playing games without fans in the stands.

"You try not to let your mind wander too far," said Spezza. "As players we still want to play games and we'll see where this goes, but at this point we're not at that stage. So there's no point in letting your mind wander or being scared of something that you don't know is going to happen or not happen."

Does a news story like this provide some perspective amid a heated playoff race? 

"We still worry about the wins and losses more than the big picture," Spezza said with a quick smile, "but yeah, I think it does show that there's serious things happening and we don't know about them. I think that’s the worrisome part, is that we don't know."

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Lines at Monday's practice: 

Nylander - Matthews - Hyman 
Kapanen - Tavares - Marner
Engvall - Kerfoot - Malgin
Clifford - Gauthier - Spezza

Rielly - Ceci
Dermott - Holl
Sandin - Barrie
Rosen - Marincin

Andersen
Campbell

Power-play units at Monday's practice: 

Marner
Barrie - Nylander - Matthews
Tavares 

Rielly
Kapanen - Kerfoot - Spezza
Hyman