Schenn, Gustafsson draw in as Leafs aim to bounce back

TSN SportsCentre Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Maple Leafs, who held a media availability at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thursday afternoon ahead of tonight’s game against the Flames.

The Leafs aren't wasting any time getting newly acquired defencemen Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson involved. Both will dress on Thursday in Calgary despite not going through a full practice with their new team.

"These are two veteran guys, guys that have moved around in their career," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "Yeah, I'm not worried about that."

Defenceman Timothy Liljegren and forward Zach Aston-Reese will be scratched as the Leafs go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen. Liljegren got banged up late in Wednesday's game against the Oilers. 
 
"He's doing fine," Keefe stressed. "The fact he did get shaken up a little bit is another reason on a back-to-back here to give him the day, but it's not an injury situation. It's more I just want to get those two guys in."
 
Schenn, who was traded from the Vancouver Canucks, joined the Leafs on Wednesday night in Edmonton while Gustafsson, who came over from the Washington Capitals, only joined the group on Thursday morning. 
 
"Both guys seem really excited," said Keefe. "Both guys were significant parts of their team and playing big roles. Schenn, obviously, on the leadership side of it and Gustafsson was playing big minutes and running the power play and things like that. Both guys were thriving in their roles but still excited to help our team and add to our depth." 
 
"It's great," said veteran defenceman Mark Giordano of the reinforcements. "Played against Schenner for a long time. He's a huge body who makes you pay the price especially in the D-zone."
 
Schenn, who was drafted by the Leafs fifth overall in 2008, will be wearing the Maple Leaf for the first time since April 7, 2012. 

With 38 points, Gustafsson immediately becomes Toronto's highest-scoring defenceman. 
 
"He's an unbelievable guy and unbelievable player with the puck," said Giordano, who also played with Gustafsson in Calgary. "He makes really good plays under pressure, good on the power play, all that, so he's a big addition to our team."
 
Schenn and Gustafsson are only the latest additions made by general manager Kyle Dubas ahead of Friday's trade deadline. 
 
"As players, it's a great feeling," said Giordano. "It's a feeling of, 'OK, our management wants us to go on a deep run here and they've given us all the tools we need.' It’s on us, as players now, to go on the ice and execute."
 
That's what made Wednesday's 5-2 loss in Edmonton so baffling. Instead of being energized, the Leafs were lacklustre. 
 
"We just didn't play with any purpose or intelligence," Keefe scowled afterwards. 
 
What sort of response is expected on Thursday? 
 
"A big one," vowed Giordano. "We played nowhere near how we know we can play and we're looking to bounce back and put [in] a good effort. We know they'll be a really desperate team who's fighting for every point so it's a perfect game for us to jump into and have that intensity that we didn't have last night."
 
Keefe blamed his best players for failing to rise to the challenge in a marquee matchup against the Oilers. 
 
"The new guys played fine," Keefe said. "It was the guys we regularly count on that weren't good enough."
 
With seven blueliners dressing, the stars up front will see more minutes in Calgary. 
 
"There was a lot of miles on our defence last night," Keefe noted. "I thought our forwards, for the most part, it was kind of an off night for them and they weren't on offence very much. The defence, we can share the minutes and on forward we should have lots of legs and it gives me an opportunity to try some different things and get our best people out on the ice more frequently." 

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Jake McCabe fired two shots on net, registered two hits and blocked one shot in 21 minutes of work in his first game since being traded from Chicago. McCabe also took a slashing penalty, which led to a Connor McDavid goal.
 
"I thought I settled in as the game went on," the left-shot defenceman said. "Definitely some nerves, excitement early on. Tough penalty to take early on and get their power play on the ice. That was tough. But, you know, I thought I settled in with Brods [T.J. Brodie] and got more comfortable as the game went on."
 
McCabe only had one practice with his new team before getting thrown into the fire against the explosive Edmonton attack. His most common forward opponents in 5-on-5 play were Zach Hyman, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.  
 
"There's just different nuances with the different system," the 29-year-old said of going from Chicago to Toronto. "It will only get easier."
 
Toronto's system calls on the defencemen to be more active. 

"The forwards are a bit more responsible here getting above so it kind of gives us the green light to go down," McCabe noted. "So we know we won't give up odd-man rushes. There's different nuances throughout the systems in all three zones that I'm just getting used to."

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Justin Holl led the Leafs with four hits in Edmonton.
 
"It's just the opportunities, I guess, as they present themselves," the right-shot defenceman said. "Obviously, you want to make it hard on their best players."
 
With Rasmus Sandin traded on Tuesday, Holl now leads all Toronto blueliners in hits. He landed a rare big hit on McDavid and then crushed Kailer Yamamoto with a big bodycheck late in the game. 
 
"I think I surprised him a little bit," Holl said. "He was kind of taking the puck behind the net and I think there was a guy coming from the other side so maybe he was feeling that. That was an opportunity that presented itself and you want to be physical and make it hard on them so, you know, that was that."
 
The Oilers didn't appreciate the hit. Holl dropped the gloves with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Did he feel like he had to fight?  
 
"Right or wrong, that's just kind of the reaction at times and you just do it," he said. 
 
After adding Schenn and Gustafsson in trades earlier this week, the Leafs currently have nine defencemen on the roster. 
 
"There's always competition," said Holl. "It's a very competitive league and the reality of the situation is if you don't play well enough you won't be in the league for long. So, that's always just kind of the deal and you try and take it one game at a time and perform the best you can."
 
"He was real good last night," said Keefe. "I thought he had two real physical hits that made an impact on the game, gets in a fight, I thought he moved the puck well. It was a good day for him. He's sat out here recently and then we add depth and experience on the back end and I think part of what you're trying to do is get the best from everybody and recognize there's competition here."  

Holl, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, is No. 11 on TSN's latest trade bait list. 
 
"There's a lot of action, but that's the deadline," said Holl. "It feels like it's a little bit more active this year, not just with us, but around the league so that's been interesting to see, but it's kind of the same every year."
 
Holl is happy to see Dubas doing his part to help the Leafs gear up for the playoffs. 
 
"We're going for it," Holl said. "I think that's the idea. We have a great team and have had a great year and the new additions will be good."

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Matt Murray remains sidelined with an ankle injury. 
 
"He is close," Keefe stressed. "He has been doing really well. He'll skate again on Friday and continue to progress from there, but everything has been positive."
 
Thursday was a scheduled day off the ice for Murray, who has not played since Jan. 17. 
 
Joseph Woll gets the start in Calgary. It's his seventh career NHL appearance. 
 
Ilya Samsonov allowed five goals on 32 shots on Wednesday. Keefe never considered pulling the goalie. 
 
"He needs to stay in there," the coach explained. "This is the type of game against this type of opponent where he needs to stay in there."
 
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The Leafs have a day off on Friday in Vancouver ahead of their Saturday game against the Canucks, but Dubas will address the media after the trade deadline.