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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO — It's been 18 months since the Maple Leafs played a regular-season game against a team from outside of Canada. That streak halts today. 

Toronto's steady diet of the same six-club rotation officially ends with the New York Rangers paying a visit on Monday, a dose of unfamiliarity the Leafs are only too pleased to experience. 

“They're different. That's new and nice,” said coach Sheldon Keefe after the Leafs held a team meeting on Monday. “There's a lot more [that goes into it] because you're familiarizing yourself again. Since the last time I've coached against the Rangers, there's a different coach [in Gerard Gallant] and many different players, and you're just reconnecting with the strengths of their top players. There's time that goes into it for sure, but I think it's a welcome change for our staff.”

And how. Not since March 2020, right before the NHL hit pause amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has the Leafs’ regular-season slate felt more normal. Toronto binged on all Canadian-based teams in last season’s 56-game run, followed by a seven-game playoff series against Montreal. Then the Leafs opened this regular season with one tilt against the Canadiens and two against Ottawa. 

Now at last there will be another two-anthem night in Toronto. And when it happens, the Leafs will have their best player back in the lineup. 

Auston Matthews wasn’t fully recovered enough from his off-season wrist surgery to take part in Toronto’s first three games, through which the team complied a 2-1-0 record. It was clear by Matthews’ participation level in Sunday’s practice though that a return was imminent, which he subsequently confirmed. 

The NHL’s reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner will now slide onto the Leafs’ top line with Nick Ritchie and Mitch Marner, causing a trickle-down effect of other changes. John Tavares will now be flanked by Michael Bunting and William Nylander, Alex Kerfoot moves from centre to wing on the third line with David Kampf and Ondrej Kase, and Pierre Engvall joins the fourth line with Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds. ​

“[Having Matthews back] just makes us a deeper team,” Keefe said. “The challenge for us, or the opportunity, is to just continue doing the things that we were doing. You can't change anything with Auston coming back in. You know what he is to our team and what his presence means, but the individual [performances] and how we play doesn't change.”

Having Matthews in the mix should give the biggest boost to Marner and Ritchie. So far, Ritchie remains without a point, and Marner has just one assist while averaging the second-most ice time (21:25 per game) on the team. 

It’s clear that line – previously centred by Tavares – has yet to pop, and Matthews should be the catalyst it needs. 

“They have looked very good when they've played together [in practice],” Keefe said of his newest trio. “We know the chemistry that Auston and Mitch have; I expect that to be evident right away. In terms of Nick in a game setting, practice is one thing but the games and reading off of each other when you're 5-on-5, so it'll be a little bit different there. But I see great potential.”

Ritchie had a terrific pre-season for the Leafs, scoring three goals in their final two exhibition games but he hasn’t translated that offensive play into the regular season. However, there is more to Ritchie’s game that Keefe believes will benefit Matthews and Marner. 

“When he gets the puck, very often on the next play the puck is going to one of our sticks,” Keefe said. “That’s an underrated but extremely important piece of playing with good players. If the puck comes to your stick and the play dies and goes to the opposition, that's not a very good quality to have. He’s consistently getting [the puck] to good spots, and I think there's great potential for that line to be great and Nick's got great potential there.”

During the preseason Ritchie also saw time on the Leafs’ top power play, where he scored two of those three goals. Jason Spezza had taken over there in Matthews’ absence the past three games, but there is truly no substitute for what the 24-year-old can bring - and no question the power play needed a major overhaul. 

The Leafs man advantage went on a well-documented spiral to the bottom of the league last season from mid-March onwards, and Toronto brought in assistant coach Spencer Carbery to address the problem. 

Keefe will finally have the power play look he intended on all along with Matthews’ return.

“I'm anxious to see that group that I've kind of had to my mind all off-season to work together and we'll see how that plays out tonight,” Keefe said. “The power play has been one area we wanted to improve in greatly. It was an increased challenge to do so with not having [Matthews in] pre-season games and even having very little practice reps with Auston's presence. We tried to mimic that, but we're looking forward to getting it together today.”

If there’s any concern about a rusty Matthews following his long layoff, it’s not shared by teammates, who have been awed by his skills in practice. 

“He looks unbelievable, as usual,” said Rasmus Sandin. “Going against him, how he gets the puck with him, nothing has changed. He looks more than ready. It's frustrating sometimes [going up against him], but it's a lot of fun. He's a very competitive guy, he gives at least 100 per cent. He competes a lot, and he makes everyone better.”