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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TSN Maple Leafs reporter Kristen Shilton checks in with news and notes from practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs held a practice at MasterCard Centre on Tuesday before travelling to Florida.

- Centre Tyler Bozak was on the ice as the Maple Leafs reconvened for the first time in three days. He’s missed the last three games with a lower-body injury but slotted back between James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner on Tuesday. Bozak wasn’t showing any limitations as a full participant in the day’s drills. “Everything felt pretty good,” he said. “Maybe just a little bit of [losing my] wind, but that comes back pretty quick once you get in the games.” As for whether he’ll get in a game over the next two days in Florida, Bozak said he’ll at least be making the trip. “I think [I’ll play]. I hope so,” he said. “[Today] was a lot more skating than I’ve done since I [got] hurt. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there.” Coach Mike Babcock echoed Bozak’s cautious optimism. The team’s centre depth has been a bit exposed since Bozak went down, so Babcock would like him back sooner than later. “I think there’s a chance [he plays], but we’ll see what happens tomorrow,” Babcock said. “He skated today, skated yesterday. We’ll see tomorrow how he feels and if he’ll skate, then we’ll make a decision.” Bozak has six goals and 13 assists through 30 games this season.

- The holidays are a welcome break for players from the grind of a long schedule. The Maple Leafs were off from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day and everyone took full advantage of the time with family and friends. “Get a few days off, let the body and the mind relax,” Auston Matthews said. “It’s nice to come back and feel refreshed for the next part of the season.” Toronto practised for longer than usual on Tuesday, going over 40 minutes at the fast pace Babcock likes. At this stage, most of the players are familiar with the routine of getting back to game speed quickly. “You have a couple days off, spend a lot of time on the couch, have a big Christmas dinner with your family,” said Morgan Rielly. “You come back to the rink and there are definitely some legs you have to find and get back. Not just your legs, but [being] mentally prepared as well. We’ll skate tomorrow and we’ll be ready to play.”

- After finally winning on a back-to-back (against the Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes), the Maple Leafs are hoping to carry their winning ways into yet another set of games on consecutive nights in Florida. While talent has always been abundant with this group, consistency hasn’t. “Some of those games earlier in the season, even a couple weeks ago, we let our foot off the gas and gave up goals,” Matthews said. “I think our main focus is to not take our foot off the pedal and continue to play a full 60 minutes. We know we’re a really talented team. We have a few pieces we still need to put together but we’re a team that’s confident we can win no matter who it is.” Babcock said the team can’t do anything about their start and the points they let slip away early on, but they can continue to learn from their mistakes. “I like getting better each and every day. I think we are,” he said. “We’ve talked a long time about young players, young players, but to me, we’ve been here long enough we should know where to stand and how hard we have to play. That doesn’t mean we’re still not going to make mistakes. We found a way in a 2-0 game the other day to make it 2-1 for no apparent reason, but we did. Those are the things we have to continue to overcome.”

- Matthews and Connor Brown have developed some chemistry over the last few games where they’ve primarily played with one another. Brown has two goals in his last two games, and three points overall, with Matthews grabbing an assist on his score in Arizona. The two anticipate each other well on the ice and are setting up scoring opportunities. Babcock has been criticized by fans for keeping Brown and Zach Hyman with Matthews, when they’re both worker-types as opposed to a pure offensive talent like William Nylander, but Matthews feels comfortable at the centre of that trio. “Each game we play together we’ve gotten better and better,” Matthews said. “He’s such an easy player to play with, he makes plays and he’s a hard worker. The more we’re together, the more chemistry there is. He’s been able to find the back of the net the last couple games so that’s really positive.”

-  Scoring 10 goals over the last two games has helped move Toronto into the black in goal differential (they’re plus-two). The Maple Leafs have been shutout only twice in 33 games. “You’re going to win more games if you’re in that [plus] column,” Bozak said. “We’ve been doing a good job of that of late. We’ve got a lot of road games here so we’ve got to keep it rolling on the road and get a couple wins.” The play of goaltender Frederik Andersen has helped in that area – he’s been exceptional this month especially, allowing five goals in his last four starts. Babcock confirmed Andersen will split this upcoming back-to-back with either Antoine Bibeau or Jhonas Enroth, who are both currently with the team.