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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The Maple Leafs (optional) skated at Scotiabank Arena on Friday. 

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Friday's regular-season finale may end up determining who the Leafs face in the first round, but that will not factor into how the team approaches the game. 

"We've already solidified our position in the standings," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "It's about making sure our players and then our team is in the best position possible when it starts on Monday. I fully expect Boston will be a shell of themselves here tonight as well." 

The Bruins can pass the Lightning for third in the Atlantic Division – and set up yet another series with the Leafs – by gaining a point on Tampa Bay on Friday. The Lightning will play at the New York Islanders in a game that starts 30 minutes after puck drop in Toronto. 

"We want to get through the game healthy," Keefe stressed. "At the same time, we've been talking the last four games or so about maintaining our habits, especially defensively, in how we manage the puck, special teams habits, those kind of things. But, obviously, the most important thing is to get through the game healthy."

With that in mind, John Tavares will join Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Jack Campbell on the sideline for Friday's game. And the regulars in the lineup won't face the same workload. 

"We'll spread out the minutes," Keefe said. "Guys that haven't played a lot, they'll get an opportunity to play more tonight. [It's] a good opportunity for them to show what they can do with more opportunity. We think we are going to need a little more from our depth guys when the playoffs begin because the pace and physicality is so high and with the volume of games and how quickly they come at you."

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The battle for playoff playing time is heating up and finding the right mix in the bottom six is critical. 

"You're going to have your offensive contributors and your big-name guys doing what they do," said gritty winger Wayne Simmonds. "I'm a firm believer that a lot of series are won and lost on the depth guys. I think it's an opportunity here for all of us, all of our depth players, to prove that we're great players in this league as well and we can help our big guys out."

Keefe likes what he's been getting out of Simmonds and fellow veterans Jason Spezza and Kyle Clifford down the stretch. 

"For a while there our fourth line was really sputtering," the coach said. "They were getting scored on a lot and not producing a lot offensively. We've really challenged those guys to create an identity for themselves."

Simmonds, in his second season with his hometown team, will be experiencing his first playoff run with Toronto fans in the building. 

"It should be awesome," the Scarborough, Ont. native said. "Our fan base is, to say the least, crazy. It's going to be extremely exciting."

Simmonds readily admits it was "gut-wrenching" to see the Los Angeles Kings win the 2012 Stanley Cup after trading him a year earlier. At age 33, he's still chasing an elusive championship. 

"When you get to this point you don't know how much longer you have," Simmonds said. "You lay everything out there every single shift, every second that you get, because you don't know if you'll get another opportunity to even be able to even play in the Stanley Cup playoffs. So, it's a lot of motivation."

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The addition of versatile forward Colin Blackwell, who came over at the trade deadline from Seattle along with Mark Giordano, has created more competition at the bottom of Toronto's lineup. The 29-year-old will be taking part in his first Stanley Cup playoff series next week. 

"I've been part of a couple teams now and haven't got a chance to get a taste of it," he said. "This is what you dream about as a kid ... I'm a little fired up, to say the least."

Friday's game, his 19th with the Leafs, is important to Blackwell, who is still adjusting to a new team and system.

"I hold myself to a high standard, so I think I have more to give," he said. "I feel like there's a little bit of inconsistency in my own end ... Part of it is just reading off the guy next to me. I feel like maybe in a couple games I was caught in between whether it was on the forecheck or defensively with little reads. Looking back to the Tampa game where [Ross] Colton scored one on the backdoor and I was right there, it's little things along those lines that eat me alive. It's just cleaning up the little details."

Blackwell has lined up at all three forward positions since arriving in Toronto while bouncing between three different lines.  

"That's been my bread and butter my whole career," the 5-foot-9 Massachusetts native said. "I'm comfortable playing any position."

Why?  

"It's because nobody's ever really given me a chance," said Blackwell, who was a seventh round pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 NHL draft. "I've always had to grind. When I came into the league, I realized I was never going to take anybody's position in the top nine, so I had to re-invent my game. I was a centre my whole life and then started playing more wing and learning as I went and watching the older guys and picking it up."

Blackwell skated as a winger on a line with Pierre Engvall and David Kampf at Thursday's practice. 

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Alex Kerfoot blocked a shot off his foot while killing a penalty on Tuesday night and struggled to get to the bench. The forward avoided any serious injury and doesn't plan to take it easy on Friday. 

"I'm not changing the way I play at all," Kerfoot vowed. "It doesn't matter what time of the season it is, when you're playing you play the same way. That's my attitude and I think that is everyone's attitude. Injuries are part of the game and they're kind of a crazy fluke thing. They can come at any time and the more you start thinking about it or start to change how you play or your mentality a little bit that can get you in trouble."

Kerfoot is one of only four Leafs who will suit up in all 82 games this season. The others are Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie and Kampf. 

"It would be unlucky and unfortunate to get injured this time of year," Kerfoot said, "but you could also get injured in the first game of the season, first game of the playoffs, second game of the playoffs."

Rielly, who leads the Leafs in ice time, made it clear he's going to be going hard against the Bruins. 

"If you go out there and you dog it and take a night off, then you don't often feel too good as you're leaving the rink," the longest-serving Leaf said. "As a group we want to work and compete and be there for one another and leave feeling good. That way when we get rolling on Monday, we're in a good head space and feeling confident."

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Joey Anderson has been called up from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and will suit up against Boston. The forward has played four games with the Leafs this season with the most recent one coming on Jan. 22. 

Justin Holl will also draw in as the Leafs dress seven defencemen on Friday night. 

Possible Leafs lineup for Friday's game:

Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Nylander 
Engvall - Kampf - Blackwell  
Clifford - Spezza - Simmonds 
Abruzzese, Anderson 

Rielly - Lyubushkin 
Muzzin - Brodie 
Giordano - Liljegren 
Holl 

Kallgren starts 
Campbell