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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs and the Calgary Flames skated at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday morning.

Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk struck up a friendship during their time together with the USA Hockey national program and have remained in touch during their NHL careers although sometimes Matthews wishes the Calgary Flames forward would keep the messaging to a minimum. 

“He’s, honestly, notorious for saving videos of his highlights on his phone," Matthews said with a big smile. "He’s actually got one of him and Zach Hyman when they played in Michigan and they got into it pretty good. He’s funny. He has a lot of videos and he’ll send them at random times throughout the year and you’re just like, ‘What do you want? I’m about to play a game.' ”

Of course, Matthews showed the most recent video sent by Tkachuk to his longtime linemate Hyman. 

"We always play the U.S. kids and it’s one of those games where we don’t want to play," recalled Hyman, a Wolverine from 2011 to 2015, "but they’re all excited because they get to play Michigan and I think he actually hit me hard one game and I didn’t see it coming, because he’s a young kid.”    

Like so many Tkachuk hits, a scrum followed that play. 

"It was funny," Hyman said. "And it's fun to play against him now. He's a scrappy player and goes into the corners like I do and hockey stuff happens."

Tkachuk has already earned a reputation as one of the NHL's top pests. 

“He seems to be agitating more people this year," Matthews noted, "but that’s his game. He’s a guy that plays with a lot of passion and he doesn’t mind getting under your skin. Definitely a guy I’d love on my team and, as you can see from a lot of other guys in the league, not a guy you like to really play against.”

And Matthews isn't expecting any special treatment tonight despite their close bond. 

“Any time you go against somebody that you know and you played alongside there’s always that extra competitiveness, so I don’t expect him to take it easy on me ever," he said. 

Tkachuk calls Matthews top-five NHL player

Meanwhile, Tkachuk heaped praise on Matthews when asked how Calgary can stop the 20-year-old. 

"I don’t know," he said with a chuckle. "It’s a tough task. I mean, a guy like that you’re not really trying to stop (completely). He’s, in my opinion, (one of the) top-five players in the NHL right now. He’s unbelievable. He thinks the game so well, his skill’s unbelievable. He skates really, really well now. Watching him play, it looks like his speed has gotten that much better and he’s beating guys with everything right now ... so, I guess, just try and be hard on him. There’s not a lot you can do to stop guys like that, you just have to contain him.”

Tkachuk, who was also a teammate of Mitch Marner with the London Knights in the OHL, has been impressed with how Toronto's young stars have navigated the centre of the hockey universe. 

“That’s no easy thing walking into a team that wasn’t good a couple years ago and then last year being a really, really young team and bringing them to the playoffs and then having expectations this year. It’s hard for them. I feel for them. They have a lot of pressure, but they’re all handling it really well," Tkachuk said.
And Matthews hasn't changed one bit based on what Tkachuk has seen. 

“It’s hard for a guy to go into a hard market like that, that young and be looked at to be that type of player and he’s handled it really, really well. I don’t know if I could handle it as well as he has, but he’s done an awesome job.”

Some players have suggested the intense media attention can be detrimental in a Canadian market, especially if things aren't going well, but Tkachuk has a simple strategy for avoiding that. 

"Don’t let them say negative stuff about you then," he quipped. 

While seeing Tkachuk go up against Matthews all night would be entertaining, it seems like Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan is leaning toward a power-on-power matchup with his red-hot Sean Monahan line. 

"It's going to be a matchup where it’s a real players’ game where your top guys are going to take centre stage," Gulutzan said when asked if he expected a chess match with Leafs head coach Mike Babcock. "You have to get the right people on the ice at the right time but, for me, it's a real players’ game tonight."

What stands out to Matthews about the trio of Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Micheal Ferland? 

"They move the puck really well," he said. "Johnny’s really slippery, makes plays and Monahan’s a really good 200-foot guy so that line’s been really hot lately. Their D are very active as well so we don’t want to be losing numbers above them, because when they come in on odd-man rushes they can really make you pay. They can also get you all out of sorts in your D zone, too."

'Everyday-er' Brown gets chance with Matthews, Nylander

During road games in Florida and Carolina last week, Babcock moved Patrick Marleau to centre to avoid mismatches, but at today's morning skate the 38-year-old remained on the wing with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. Connor Brown, meanwhile, skated with Matthews and Hyman. That trio ended Saturday's game together and nearly helped Toronto pull off a big comeback against the Capitals.

"I just like Brownie because he comes to work every day," Babcock explained. "He's an ‘everyday-er.’ He brings it every single day, he's good with the puck, he's good without the puck, it doesn't matter what line you start him on, he just finds a way to play all the time. That's what's supposed to happen in hockey. When the game starts, the guys who play the best are supposed to play. The guys who don't play the best aren't supposed to play as much. That's how it is.

“Brownie finds a way to play all the time."

William Nylander, who has just one goal in 17 games, skated on the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Matt Martin.

Tkachuk expresses sympathy for suspended Landeskog 

Gabriel Landeskog was suspended four games for cross-checking Tkachuk in the face during Saturday's game in Colorado. Asked about the incident this morning, Tkachuk, who has already been suspended a couple times in his young career, actually expressed sympathy for the Avalanche captain. 

"You feel for a guy," Tkachuk said. "You never want to see guys get suspended. I was trying to get the puck loose and it was a hockey play at first. He gave me that extra one and that's the one the league wasn't too happy with, but you move on. It's nothing I'm worried about today."

Lines at Leafs morning skate

Forwards
Hyman-Matthews-Brown
Marleau-Kadri-Komarov
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner
Martin-Moore-Nylander
Extras: Leivo, Soshnikov

Defencemen
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Borgman-Polak
Extra: Carrick

Goalies
Andersen starts
McElhinney 

Power-play units at Leafs morning skate

Rielly 
Bozak-Kadri-Marner 
van Riemsdyk 

Gardiner 
Nylander-Marleau-Matthews
Leivo^

^ Placeholder likely for Brown