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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils skated at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. 

Toronto's triple-threat trial is over.

The Leafs experimented with having Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander on different lines during the past two games. On Wednesday, they failed to score in five-on-five play but dominated possession against the Anaheim Ducks. On Saturday, the team started slow and fell behind the Detroit Red Wings 4-2. 

"We were pretty good in the Anaheim game," said left winger Alex Kerfoot, who joined Nylander on the David Kampf line to open the past two outings. "Last game, we got off to a bad start. I don't think you can really blame that on the lines as much as how we came out as a group in general."

On Saturday, coach Sheldon Keefe reunited Matthews with Marner and Nylander with John Tavares, which sparked a rally. Toronto scored five unanswered goals in the third period, including two empty-netters, to win 7-4.  

"We had a good comeback the other day," Keefe said. "The spirit behind those changes was very good and we had great response to it."

So, the dynamic duos – Matthews with Marner and Tavares with Nylander – will remain together tonight. 

"It's no secret that this is our optimal look for me," Keefe said. "We tried something different, and we will continue with that throughout the remainder of the season at different times, but this is our optimal look."

The Leafs will play home and away against the Devils tonight and tomorrow before heading into the all-star break.

"We are going to go into a set here against the same opponent back-to-back and we want to get off to a good start," Keefe said. "We're trying to build upon the third period that we had the other night in Detroit. That showed what we're capable of as a team. We need to get back to that right away here."

Keefe believes his team can and should win the top-heavy Atlantic Division and, to that end, it's crucial to bank points against teams like the Devils, who have lost seven of eight. 

"I see a team that, in some ways, reflects what we just saw with the Detroit team," Keefe said. "If you're not ready to play and you're not competing and you're not sound defensively or taking care of the puck, they've got guys that are going to come alive and carry the play and give themselves a chance to win. It will be on us to establish our game, stress their defence and goaltending, and make them have to defend. That's really our message going into it." 

 

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After skating with the team multiple times last week while wearing a red no-contact sweater, Jake Muzzin was not on the ice with the group this morning. The defenceman will not play in these two games against New Jersey. 

"He's going to take a bit of a step back here now with the break upcoming," Keefe said. "He was not going to be available to play in either of these games, so it just made sense to do that. They'll continue to monitor him and work with him with hopes to ramp things up as we get back from the break and perhaps even throughout the break."

Muzzin sustained a concussion on a big hit from Klim Kostin in the second period of a game in St. Louis on Jan. 15. He finished the game and took part in Toronto's next practice before being diagnosed. 

"With the break upcoming, it's a little easier to pull back," Keefe said. "Any time a player has a head injury the concern is significant, but I believe he's on the right track. The medical team is on top of it, and we'll do all we can to give him the best care possible."

After a loss in New York on Jan. 19, Marner was asked about playing without Muzzin. 

"You miss him in a lot of ways, but the head's no joke," Marner said. "We got to make sure that when he comes back, he's fully ready to go. We don't need anything hurting him in the future or even past hockey. He's got a family and kids. There's more important things than trying to battle through stuff like that."

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With Muzzin sidelined, Rasmus Sandin has moved up to the second defence pair. 

"Sandy's been really good," said partner Justin Holl. "An easy guy to play with. He's been helpful all over the ice. I can't say enough good things about the way he's been playing."

What does Sandin, 21, do to make life easy? 

"Getting pucks in the D zone, he might make a quick cutback and that gives me an opportunity to find space to support him," Holl outlined. "Also, a lot of talk all over the ice and working in tandem in the offensive zone."

Sandin scored his first goal of the season on Saturday, which broke a 4-4 tie late in the third period.  

"We had the puck pretty low there and [Tavares] made a terrific pass," Sandin said. "I had a lot of thoughts going through my head there. I had a pretty similar situation in L.A., and I missed that one, so I'm very happen this one went in."

Sandin now has one goal and nine assists in 34 games this season. 

"Nobody likes to have a zero beside their name no matter what position you play," said Keefe. "That is a good thing to get that out of his head."

It was Sandin's first goal since May 22, 2021, when he beat Carey Price in Game 2 of the playoff series against Montreal.

"He's a really skilled offensive defenceman, so he probably expected to score more than he has so far," Holl pointed out, "but it's one of those deals where you score your first and hopefully the floodgates will open."

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The Leafs are winning 55.7 per cent of their faceoffs, which leads the league. Last season, Toronto won 51.1 per cent of its draws, which ranked 10th overall. 

Assistant coach Manny Malhotra, a dynamo at the dot in his playing days, is making an important contribution. 

"This season there's been a lot more focus for him on ... how we play as a team going into the faceoff and after the puck is dropped," Keefe said. "We've seen a huge jump there with little details and habits on faceoffs that have allowed our wingers to help out more and come up with a lot more 50-50 pucks."

The addition of Kampf, who anchors the third line while winning 55.4 per cent of his draws, has also been key. 

"There's no real drop on any of our lines, so we've maintained a high level line over line," Keefe said.

The Devils are only winning 47.5 per cent of their faceoffs, which ranks 28th overall. 

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The Leafs reach the halfway point of their schedule – Game No. 41 – tonight. 

"I'm really excited with where we're at and what we've done," Keefe said. "We're playing .700 hockey with lots of room to grow."

Toronto's .713 points percentage is tied for fourth overall entering Monday's games. The Leafs lead the league in power-play percentage while ranking sixth in penalty-kill rate. They are fifth in goals per game and tied for fifth in goals against per game. 

"We're definitely not satisfied with where we are," said Kerfoot. "We know we have a lot to improve on, especially on the defensive side of things."

The Leafs are allowing 3.63 goals per game in their last eight contests dating back to Jan. 8. They rank 30th overall during this leaky stretch. 

"The key to our game is to protect the middle of the ice and not give teams easy looks in and around the house," Kerfoot said. "There's lots of things that go into that but, above all, it's just a mentality and a commitment to defence. When we've been at our best, we've shown we can be really good in that area, and it's slipped a little bit as of late." 

 

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Leafs lines at Monday's morning skate: 

Bunting - Matthews - Marner 
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander 
Mikheyev - Kampf - Kase 
Engvall - Spezza - Simmonds 
Ritchie, Clifford 

Rielly - Brodie 
Sandin - Holl
Dermott - Liljegren 
Dahlstrom 

Campbell starts 
Mrazek 

Power play units at Monday's morning skate:

Quarterback: Rielly |
Flanks: Matthews, Marner 
Bumper/Net front: Tavares, Nylander rotating 

Quarterback: Sandin
Flanks: Mikheyev, Spezza 
Bumper: Kase
Net front: Bunting 

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