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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators held optional skates at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday. 

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The division-leading Leafs have been off since Saturday while the basement-dwelling Senators played on Wednesday. So, the standings and the schedule favour Toronto tonight, but Sheldon Keefe knows better than to expect an easy game in this rivalry.  

"They haven't lost in regulation in five games (3-0-2) and they're a confident team," the Leafs coach pointed out. "Certainly, they've probably played their best hockey against us, so we have every reason to be prepared here tonight."

The Leafs and Senators have split six meetings this season with Ottawa winning two of three at home, including the most recent encounter on March 14. 

"They've played us really hard," centre Alex Kerfoot said. "They have our full attention. We know that we have to be at our best to beat them."

This season, NHL teams with at least one day of rest facing a team that played the day before have a record of 19-10-3 (.641). So, the margin for error is even smaller than usual for the Senators. 

"You have to stay off the penalty kill," warned coach D.J. Smith. "You can't give their power play extra looks. One or two penalties max. And we have to find a way to not give them high-end chances. If we do, they score. We have to have a defence-first mentality and try and limit their big guys."

Smith didn't name a starter in his media session. Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson both skated this morning alongside injured goalies Matt Murray and Marcus Högberg. Forsberg was the first off the ice, which is usually the starter's routine. The 22-year-old Gustavsson got the win last night.

"As the season has worn on, they've gotten a lot more comfortable with how it is they want to play and need to play," Keefe said of the Senators. "When they've gotten saves and got in games and hung around, they're either winning games or an extremely difficult team to beat."

 

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There was a lot of mutual admiration on both sides this morning. Asked about 21-goal man Auston Matthews, Smith used the opportunity to turn the spotlight on another member of Toronto's top line. 

"One of the guys that is not talked about probably nearly as much is Mitch Marner," said Smith, who served as an assistant coach in Toronto from 2015 to 2019. "Everyone talks about Matty and he's a great player, but you can't get the puck off Mitch either and the pair of them together are lethal. You got to make them defend and make sure they don't have the puck."

Smith stressed that it's critical to clog up the neutral zone against Marner, who leads the Leafs with 40 points. 

"He's as good a player as there is in the league and sometimes there's not a lot of talk about him, but anyone who plays with him has good years," Smith said. "From JvR [James van Riemsdyk] and [Tyler] Bozak back when I was there to now Matthews. As good as he [Matthews] is, to have a passer, playmaker, worker like Mitch, makes them a deadly combo."

 

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While Smith lauded Marner, there was a lot of love for gritty winger Brady Tkachuk from the Leafs side. 

"He's similar to his brother," observed defenceman T.J. Brodie. "He's a big body, too and he uses that to his advantage. He's tough around the net to box out just because he's so good getting between you and [the goalie] and getting his back end out there. Around the net he's good and there's not many guys like that in the league that can stand in there and find a way to get free and loose and, at the same time, tip pucks."

Tkachuk has, predictably, enjoyed the Battle of Ontario so far with 12 points in 12 games against the Leafs, including seven in six games this year. 

"There's a lot of big strong guys that go to the net, but don't necessarily have the skillset or the timing to make good on the chances," noted Keefe. "He's definitely someone that's difficult to handle in that area. The challenge is to try to break out quickly and not let him or his line spend time in the offensive zone, so he doesn't have as much of an opportunity to use the strengths that he has in terms of getting to the net."  

 

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The Leafs did their annual hospital visit via Zoom recently as players chatted with more than 100 patients at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. 

During the question-and-answer session, one kid wanted to know who would win a team Ironman Triathlon and who would finish last. 

“I think the person that would come last would be T.J.," said Morgan Rielly of his defence partner. 

"I actually will second that one," Matthews said to laughs. 

What's the deal? 

"I had a tough skate test at the start of the year," Brodie explained with a sheepish grin. "First impressions last a while, I guess, around here so I think that's what it had to do with." 

Rielly suggested Zach Hyman and Pierre Engvall would be the leading contenders to win. 

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The Senators placed Christian Wolanin on waivers after the defenceman logged just eight minutes and three seconds in last night's game. 

Braydon Coburn will draw in tonight playing his first game since March 4. 

"He defends really hard and gives us a fresh guy back there that can help us keep it out against what we think is one of the [top] offences in hockey," Smith said.

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The Leafs are not expected to make any lineup changes.