Leafs hope games against NHL's best will push them to another level

TSN SportsCentre Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who practised at Ford Performance Centre on Friday ahead of their game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Toronto stumbled to start the 2022-23 NHL season despite playing eight of 11 games against teams that missed the playoffs last year. The schedule is about to get much tougher and the Leafs hope that will help them regain their form. 

"We know we're going to be challenged to another level and we're looking to get to another level as a team," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "I think it's a great opportunity and we'll be ready for it."

"These are going to be hard games and good tests," said defenceman Justin Holl. "We wouldn't have it any other way."

Toronto has played down to its opponent at times, but this group has also shown it can rise to the occasion. The Leafs are 2-1-0 against teams that made the playoffs last year with home wins over the Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars. 

"That's one of the things that's given me confidence all the way through the start of this season and certainly through last season," said Keefe. "Any time where we had some hiccups along the way, when push came to shove in the regular season, we responded very well as a team."

The trial by fire starts on Saturday when the league-leading Bruins come to town. The Leafs swept all three games against their Atlantic Division rivals last season. 

The Bruins have won 10 of 11 games this season under new coach Jim Montgomery.

"Boston is going to give us a lot to handle with how they're performing right now," said Keefe. "But, we believe in our team. I'm excited for an opportunity for us to go against what's been the top team in the NHL so far." 

Ilya Samsonov will start against the Bruins while Erik Kallgren, who is 0-1-2 on the season, will get the call on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Toronto won two of three games against Carolina last season. 

"These are some good teams," said defenceman Morgan Rielly. "We're at the point now in the season where we're kind of in the swing of things and our expectation is that nobody's going to take us by surprise ... We talked about that today and had a good practice to get focused. So, there's no reason why we can't be ready." 

Toronto put forward one of its most complete efforts on Wednesday in a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. 

"We had a lot of opportunities to get more goals, obviously, and not a lot fell until, really, later in the game but nothing changed within our format," noted winger Mitch Marner. "We still kept the same urgency throughout the entire game and that was something great to see. Three tough games coming up. We got to make sure we get our rest tonight and be ready to take these teams on head on."

"We're coming off a good win," said Keefe. "We're feeling much better about our game coming out of that one."

The Leafs will take Monday off before hosting the Western Conference-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. The Knights already beat the Leafs this season, winning 3-1 on Oct. 24 in Las Vegas.

---

The Leafs like how they handled the rough stuff at the end of Wednesday's game. Travis Konecny got into it with Auston Matthews late in the third period. Mark Giordano tackled the Flyers forward before he could escalate things with the reigning Hart Trophy winner. 

"It's pretty straightforward," Giordano said. "He's our best player and we can't have him involved in any fights or anything like that, obviously. It's just a mentality of our group when our top guys are in those situations we got to get in there."

"That's kind of what we're all about here," said Matthews. "We always got each other's backs. It's not surprising, but obviously it feels good to have that support." 

Marner mentioned that he heard some people thought Matthews should've fought in that situation. 

"I don't know why you'd want Auston Matthews to fight," Marner said. "He's obviously [the] top goal scorer in the league at the moment and you don't want him to hurt his wrist or do anything else. That was a great play by Gio and just really the whole five guys as a unit to go all in and just protect one another."

Giordano ended up dropping the gloves with Kevin Hayes. 

"I wouldn't call myself a fighter by any means," the 39-year-old defenceman said with a smile. "The emotions were running high on their side and on our side as well. It felt like throughout the game it was pretty chippy and there was a lot of chirping going back and forth and those things happen at the end of scrums all the time. I liked our response."

Michael Bunting grabbed Konecny when the London, Ont., native went back at Matthews following the Giordano tackle. 

"We're not a fighting team," Marner said. “We're a team that goes in together and helps each other out and that was a great response by our guys." 

"Those are the kinds of things that help build your team a little bit closer," Keefe said. "It is great to see."

---

Matthews and Marner both did damage on the power play against the Flyers, but Toronto's top line has yet to produce consistently at even strength. Matthews and Marner have combined for just three goals in 5-on-5 play this season. 

Before Wednesday's game, Keefe said he was willing to let the dynamic duo work through this dry spell considering the incredible chemistry they displayed last season. The coach also said "nothing's off the table" if things don't improve. 

"I don't know why [you'd split us up]," Marner said. "It works for us two. I mean, you see it. We're not panicked. We're not rushed. So, I mean, we'll let everyone else do the panicking and stuff like that. We're getting our looks every game, both of us are, and neither of us have scored on a lot of them."

Marner only has 10 shots on net in 5-on-5 play this season (0.9 per game). He fired 129 shots on net in 5-on-5 play over 72 games last year (1.8 per outing). 

"We're working the O-zone pretty well, spacing out between us, trying to find those little holes," Marner said. "I thought we've done a good job of that the last couple of games [and] it just hasn't fallen." 

Matthews has scored in three of the last four games, but each goal was on the power play.

---

Timothy Liljegren will return to the Leafs lineup on Saturday. The 23-year-old defenceman, who underwent hernia surgery on the eve of training camp, will be paired with Rielly. 

"We just got to support each other," Rielly said. "It's always hard when you miss time, especially early in the season, so I'll try to take it upon myself to communicate and just to talk. We just both want to be comfortable and move the puck well. He's a great skater and he's got a great sense of the game so I'm sure it won't take him long to get right into a rhythm."

What does Liljegren think about making his season debut in the top four while facing the NHL's best team? 

"Perfect," he told reporters with a smile. "Get right back to it ... I was very happy with how my season went last year. I took steps throughout the season. It was a little bit of a setback here, but that's what I'm going to try and do this year as well."

Although he was scratched in the final five games of the playoffs, Liljegren emerged as a feel-good story on Toronto's back end last season. He finished in a tie for 11th in Calder Trophy voting. 

"Last year he played some big minutes for us when guys went down and he didn't shy away from any moment," said Marner. "It's great to see him back with us and humming at practice."

Liljegren played two games in the American Hockey League as part of a conditioning stint late last month. 

"Watching the games back, he did a really nice job in his time with the Marlies," noted Keefe. "I'm hoping for Lily to just go out and be himself. He was in a real nice groove for us through the tail end of the regular season last year and really became an important member of our team both at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill so it's been tough not having him through the early going of the season."

 ---

Holl got off to a rough start this season, but his game has stabilized since he started playing with T.J. Brodie in Anaheim on Sunday. 

"I like playing with T.J. a lot," said Holl. "He makes it really easy on me. He's really smart and always in the right spots. We're just looking to build on the two games we've played together."

Holl is coming off his strongest possession game of the season. The Leafs controlled 82.8 per cent of the shot attempts with him on the ice against the Flyers, per NaturalStatTrick.com. However, the 30-year-old heard some boos from the home fans after committing a series of giveaways during a nightmarish shift in the second period. 

Holl started laughing when asked about that moment in the game. 

"Obviously, it didn't look great," he said. "I thought Matthews was going to come up over the top and be an option and then, all the sudden, you know, the next time you look, when you're about to pass it, he's changing, which is obviously not his fault at all, but it's just a little bit of a miscommunication. And then you want to get the puck back, but then you just give it away. And then the other one was just a little bit out of my reach. It would be a little bit harder to swallow if I made a couple plays that led to disastrous goals or something like that, but that sort of stuff happens."

Did Holl hear the boo birds? 

"I heard it," he said with another laugh. "I heard it, for sure. But those are easy things to forget because, if you've ever played this sport, that stuff happens."

"In the moment, at least, I didn't take that necessarily as all on Justin," said Keefe. "I thought it was just some general sloppy play from our team for about a 60-second span there where we made  three or four errors. I thought other players off the puck were maybe equally responsible."  

The Leafs are confident that Holl can handle it if the fans get on him again in the future. 

"He's a guy that stays mentally strong," Marner said. "He knows he's got all the respect and love in the world in this locker room so that's all that really matters to him."

"Justin is pretty even keeled and just goes out and plays," said Keefe. "Whether it's coaches being hard on him or his teammates being hard on him or him being hard on himself, I think he's able to just brush things off ... I think he has enough intelligence and perspective to be able to just get rid of that sort of thing. He's had a long road to get to the NHL and ... any time you have a long road you get a lot of doubters and you just got to continue to be confident and work. I don't know how many healthy scratches he had in a row early in his time here with the Leafs and he found his way through that. He's a very resilient guy."

---

Wayne Simmonds was called up from the AHL and will play against the Bruins. Pontus Holmberg, who made his NHL debut on Wednesday, will be a scratch. 

"It gives us more experience," said Keefe. "Gives us a different presence and energy in the lineup. I liked Holmberg's game the other night for his first game, but Wayne gives us a different dimension that can help us going into the game tomorrow. [It] changes the dynamic of our group a little bit when he comes in. So, when we have a chance to put him in and we think he can help provide something that's required for the opponent then we're going to make that switch." 

Simmonds skated on a line with Pierre Engvall and Calle Jarnkrok at practice. Engvall will shift to the middle for the first time this season. 

"In terms of that line, it's a bit of a mixed bag," acknowledged Keefe. "Guys that haven't necessarily played together. Pierre's playing in the middle and he hasn't worked through that this season, but I think he's a good and effective centre when he has played there for us over time. I suspect our lines will be juggled throughout the game. We'll mix things up a little bit."

---

The Leafs placed Nicolas Aube-Kubel on waivers, per TSN Hockey insider Chris Johnston.

---

Lines at Friday's practice:

Bunting - Matthews - Marner 
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander 
Aston-Reese - Kampf - Malgin 
Jarnkrok - Engvall - Simmonds 
Robertson, Holmberg 

Rielly - Liljegren 
Brodie - Holl
Giordano - Sandin 
Mete - Aube-Kubel 

Samsonov 
Kallgren