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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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There’s little doubt the Toronto Maple Leafs’ have talent in spades to make their power play consistently effective. Now all they need is the execution to match.

In the 20 games since Dec. 10, Toronto is operating at a 12 per cent success rate with the extra man (6-for-50), putting its power play 30th in the NHL over that stretch. Considering Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly and John Tavares are all part of the team’s top unit, the Leafs’ scoring woes in the last six weeks have been increasingly strange.

Perhaps it's been the lack of opportunity, as many players have claimed, that’s prevented Toronto from getting on a roll - the Leafs have drawn the fewest penalties (127) of any team in the league this season, after all. But in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Leafs had five power play opportunities and still failed to score. It was the most man advantage tries Toronto had earned since Dec. 13 in Tampa, and the result was wholly disappointing.

“We have to be more efficient on the power play,” Babcock surmised on Saturday, ahead of Toronto's matchup that evening with Pittsburgh. “We’re jamming it in too much and didn’t make enough plays last night. We might have been on the power play last night as much as we’ve been in five games for crying out loud. But we didn’t do much with it and didn’t leave feeling good.”

Toronto addressed its many problems in that area again during their morning meetings, sessions that aren’t said to be filled with frustration, but rather determination to get the power play on track once and for all.

“After a night like last night, you make it clear that’s not good enough and you want to put it behind you and you’re not going to let it happen again,” said Rielly. “You look at last night, the areas of concern, whether it be the entries or not creating enough chances at the net, we talk about how we can move forward and have success to tonight.”

In an effort to ignite his special teams, Babcock moved William Nylander from the team’s second unit to its first on Friday, replacing Nazem Kadri. That didn’t yield any more positive outcomes, but Babcock isn’t opposed to changing things up again if needed.

“We’ve considered lots of things. Just think if [the media is] thinking about it, how much I’m thinking about it,” Babcock said. “Last night, you make the change, and then you did nothing with it after that, especially in the third period with the game is on the line. Moving things around a little bit I don’t think hurts. But I just didn’t think we adjusted well during the game, so we have to do a better job of that.”

Toronto’s power play now ranks 12th overall in the NHL, while the Penguins sit ninth in that category. If the Leafs want to improve their odds of scoring come game time, they say putting faith in the skill already in place will be key.

“We’re all around the net, we have chances all around the net, it’s just not bouncing in,” said Marner. “There’s nothing you can do about it. It’ll come eventually, we just have to stay patient with it and not rush things and not try to force things through seams, just get down low and with the skill we have on our power play we should be able to handle the puck very well and make teams get uncomfortable.”

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Less than 24 hours after the Leafs’ defeat in Detroit, Babcock is choosing to stay the course with his lineup against Pittsburgh, only subbing out starting netminder Frederik Andersen for backup Garret Sparks.

“The lineup will be the same,” Babcock confirmed. “I’m not 100 per cent sure on lines and the D and all that yet, but we’ll get that worked out.”

It’s a distinct possibility Babcock will break up the only line that scored for Toronto on Friday, in favour of more competitive balance. Matthews, Marner and Patrick Marleau have only been a unit for two games, but they had a coming out party of sorts in Detroit to the tune of goals by Matthews and Marleau.  

But when last the Penguins and Leafs met, Toronto earned a 5-0 victory on the strength of Marner’s play with Tavares and Zach Hyman going up against Pittsburgh’s top unit anchored by Sidney Crosby. In that Nov. 3 bout, Tavares had a goal and an assist, while Marner had two helpers, all while they held Crosby to zero points and one shot in a minus-three finish.

Until Jan. 23, Tavares and Marner had spent the entire season together with strong success, and when it comes to slowing down Crosby’s line on Saturday, Babcock could easily go back to what’s worked before. Against the Ottawa Senators on Friday, Crosby’s line with Jake Guentzel and Dominik Simon combined for four points and 14 shots on goal, making them a formidable unit to matchup with for any of Toronto's trios.

“As a line, have to make sure you’re using your speed,” said Marner of what worked last time against Pittsburgh. “That’s the thing about this team, we have so much speed, all four lines have it. When we’re all skating, it’s hard for teams to keep up with us, especially the D corps. That’s what we have to do tonight.”

There wasn’t much pace to the Leafs' game in the early goings of Friday’s contest, which was the team’s first coming off an eight-day break for the All-Star Game and their subsequent bye week. Both teams on Saturday have potential to be equally fatigued, but there’s no reason Toronto can’t put forth a better effort than they showed in Detroit.

“We got that first game out of the way, and we have to come ready to play. There’s really no excuse,” said Marner. “They’re coming off a back-to-back as well, so we have to make sure we come ready to play.”

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It was only one game, but playing on the Leafs’ top defensive pairing with Jake Muzzin on Friday felt pretty good to Rielly. Even if there’s still a fuss being made over who plays which side.

Both blueliners are left shots, but with Muzzin busy acclimating to a new system after being traded from Los Angeles last Monday, it was Rielly sliding over to the right side with Muzzin opposite him. Still, neither player was stressing about their respective places once the puck was dropped in Detroit.

“He’s a good player and he can play both sides,” Rielly explained. “We talked about that before the game, about not being in a panic to change back and forth if we’re caught on the other side, just play the game. I think we did a decent job of that. There’s room to get better, and we’ll continue to work at it as a pairing and continue to improve.”

Rielly tallied an assist in Friday’s overtime loss, while Muzzin didn’t contribute any points but was steady defensively in his 18:08 ice time.

Barring a shake-up by Babcock, Rielly and Muzzin will keep growing together in games to come, with Rielly predicting the debate about sides will become less and less of an issue.

“Once the game gets going, it’s not too much different,” he said. “The hardest part is getting used to lining up on that side on faceoffs and where you’re supposed to be in warmups. You end up being used to just being a lefty, but once the game gets going we talked about just playing, being comfortable with one another. If you end up on the left, just stay there, don’t be in a panic to switch. Just play the game and have fun.”

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Babcock has often spoken about being a lifelong learner in the coaching field, and one man he looks to with great respect for his many accomplishments is five-time Super Bowl-winning coach, Bill Belichick.

On Sunday, Belichick’s New England Patriots will make their ninth Super Bowl appearance since 2001, a feat Babcock attributes from the outside to all the positive building blocks Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have put together inside the organization.

“You’re either all in or you’re in the way. It’s that simple,” said Babcock of what makes Belichick’s program successful. "They just keep mowing them out and mowing them out and they do it right. The other thing about it is your biggest leader is your quarterback and he’s set the tone there and it’s been fantastic to watch.”

Babcock can see that same commitment Brady exudes for his team reflected in one of the Leafs’ own leaders, too.

“In today’s world, to get people to sacrifice individual rights for team rights, and do it right all the time, it’s got to be a hard thing,” Babcock said. “But that’s where key leadership is so important. That’s where a guy like John Tavares is so important to our franchise.”

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Since breaking his ankle in Toronto’s game against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 20, Tyler Ennis hadn’t been seen skating again until Saturday morning, when he and senior director of player development Scott Pellerin took the ice for a 35 minute workout.

There’s no question Ennis will slot back into Toronto’s lineup when healthy, but since acquiring Muzzin on Monday, the Leafs were at their 23-man capacity. Preemptively, the team placed defenceman Martin Marincin on waivers Saturday, clearing space for Ennis (or another player needed in the interim) to join the group.

Marincin has been a healthy scratch in all but 10 games for the Leafs this year, recording two assists. He has a better chance of clearing waivers and making it to the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies than his fellow healthy scratch defenceman Justin Holl. While Holl has only four NHL games to his credit, compared to 187 for Marincin, Holl is a big-bodied (6-foot-3, 205 pounds), 27-year-old right shot defender who could be an appealing add for other teams. But Holl also has a long history with Leafs' general manager Kyle Dubas, which may also explain why he isn't being risked on the waiver wire. 

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Maple Leafs projected lines vs. Pittsburgh:

Hyman-Tavares-Kapanen
Marleau-Matthews-Marner
Brown-Kadri-Nylander
Lindholm-Gauthier-Johnsson

Rielly-Muzzin
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Hainsey

Sparks starts
Andersen