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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who practised on Monday at Solar4America Ice in San Jose ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Sharks.

It looked like a bad goal and maybe it was, but Auston Matthews put some serious thought into the play that ended in his 45th tally of the season. 

"A couple times I've taken a similar route and haven't shot the puck," Matthews noted after the Leafs beat the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. 

So, the fourth-year NHLer decided to employ the element of surprise after flying down the wing into the Vancouver zone. 

"Just kind of throwing in a dead-angle shot, see if you can slide one in there," he said. "I threw it at the net and hoped for the best." ​

No one seemed more caught off guard than goalie Thatcher Demko, who peered at the Canucks bench after the puck eluded him wondering, perhaps, if his night was over.  

"That's one of the things he's really good at," observed winger Mitch Marner, "just that awkward shot that I don't think goalies think he's going to take and many people don't take and he gets it off so quickly, he gets it in the right spot and it’s a surprise for everyone on the ice."

Matthews is thinking the game at an elite level and he's figuring it out more and more, game by game. 

Look at goal No. 44 a couple days earlier in south Florida. The Leafs system is all about controlling possession, but Matthews saw an opportunity to shoot the puck into the corner and chase it down with his powerful skating stride. He dumped, chased and quickly got to the puck and bumped MacKenzie Weegar, a six-foot, 200-pound defenceman, to the ice with ease allowing Toronto to regain control. 

And then Matthews beat Weegar to the front of the net. Moments later the puck was on his stick and he's not going to miss from there. 

Matthews stands six-foot-three, 220 pounds, but physical play isn't a huge part of his hockey DNA.  

"When you need to finish checks you try to do that, but you're playing to play with the puck so running around with my stick up and trying to kill guys, that's not really my game," he noted on Monday. "I'd rather have the puck."

What Matthews is doing better than ever is realizing the moments when he can use his big frame to gain an advantage. 

"It's just trying to manage the puck and realize when you have space and can carry it in," he said, "and realize when you have to put it in and go get it. So, managing that and picking your spots and certain areas where you can get the puck back." 

"He's done a great job this year of using that body," Marner said, "and getting the puck down low and then making another play off that."

"He protects the puck really well," observed veteran forward Jason Spezza. "I don't know if blowing guys up on the forecheck is his staple, but the way he protects the puck and he uses his body so well, he's a hard guy to get the puck off of. You can see it in practice, the way he makes you work when we do five-on-five drills. He really knows time and space really well."

With goals in consecutive games, Matthews is keeping pace in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. He's even with Washington's Alex Ovechkin and two back of Boston's David Pastrnak, who leads the way. Ovechkin has a game in hand on both Matthews and Pastrnak. 

"It'd mean a lot, no question," Matthews said. "I mean, it's a pretty prestigious award so it'd mean a lot, but it's not really something that I think about too often. You try to keep your mind off it and go out and play hockey and let the rest take care of itself."

Hockey may be the ultimate team game, but the three-way battle to be the NHL's top goal scorer is generating big-time buzz in the Leafs room. 

"It's hard not to know what's going on there," Marner acknowledged, "we want him to win it. For me, obviously, I want him to win it, he's my linemate. I'm just trying to find him as much as possible but, at the same time, try not to overdo it and try not to take myself out of situations where I can score and overpassing. He's getting himself into situations where he's not going to miss and when you get it to him it’s pretty delightful to watch. It's almost like you know it's going to go in."

With 29 goals in the past 36 games, Matthews has been remarkably consistent down the stretch even as the games get tighter and the pressure builds. His longest goal drought this season has been five games and it happened just once. 

"Whether he wins it this year, I think there's going to be one in his future at some point," said Spezza. "For him, a lot will be judged on how we do in the playoffs and getting in and I think he realizes that and the goals will follow."

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Slowly, but surely the Leafs are getting healthier. Morgan Rielly (broken foot on Jan. 12), Cody Ceci (high ankle sprain on Feb. 5) and Ilya Mikheyev (lacerated wrist on Dec. 27) all practised today for the first time since getting hurt. 

The initial timeline for Rielly, Toronto's ice time leader (24:15 per game), was that he'd be out a minimum eight weeks making March 8 the target date.

"He's not going to play on this trip and then I would think when we get back next week that it will be sort of a day-to-day thing from there assuming everything goes really well," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "But, obviously, very positive for us to see him on the ice and he steps right into doing a lot of our drills, a lot of our full-contact drills and he's been feeling really good."

Like Rielly, Ceci won't play in California, but it is possible he returns next week. 

Mikheyev's status for the rest of the season appeared to be in doubt after a scary injury in late December. He needed surgery to repair an artery and tendons that were severed by a skate blade. It was announced his status would be re-evaluated after 90 days (March 26), but the Russian rookie appears to be well on the road to recovery. 

"It's very much looking like he's going to be back this season, which is very good for us," said Keefe.

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On the ice for both Vancouver goals on Saturday, 19-year-old Rasmus Sandin will be a healthy scratch in San Jose. Timothy Liljegren, 20, will take his spot on the third pair with Calle Rosen. 

Is Keefe worried about putting too much pressure on his rookie defencemen?

"Frankly, yes," the coach said. "And that's the conversation that I've had with them. It's important for us to not allow our circumstances to put those guys in difficult spots. Sandin, with our team, just played 15 games in 29 days in the NHL in February, that’s a lot to ask for a young guy and taking on a lot of responsibility here with the injuries."

The acquisition of Rosen at the trade deadline has given Keefe some flexibility.  

"Now with the addition of Rosen we think, even with the injuries, we have the ability to move guys in and out and give some of these younger guys some time off and a little extra time in the gym and ease the pressure a little bit in the schedule for them."

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After starting seven straight games, Frederik Andersen will get a break in California. Jack Campbell gets the call on Tuesday, his first game action since winning in Ottawa on Feb. 15. 

"We wanted to get Jack involved," said Keefe, noting there was some thought about starting him against Vancouver on Saturday. "We didn't do that one so in exchange we're going to get him in for this one here. He's comfortable in California, he's won a game here in San Jose this season."

Campbell, who was acquired in a trade with the Kings in early February, stopped 22 of 24 shots during a win at the Shark Tank on Dec. 27.  

Martin Jones, who stopped all 30 shots faced against the Penguins on Saturday night, will get the start for San Jose. 

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San Jose centre Joe Thornton declined interview requests on Monday, but teammates say the 40-year-old hasn't changed at all since not being traded at the deadline. 

"He's been happy," said Logan Couture. "He's had a good time with the game. He's come in and done a lot of things properly, the way that he's always done it. He shows up early, he works hard, he's great for our young players to learn from. I mean, if you're thinking about taking the day off and you see Jumbo out there going as hard as he can in his 20th year then you better think twice about it."

Last week, Thornton told reporters he had hoped to be traded to a contender in order to have a chance at winning his first Stanley Cup.

"He really, deep down inside, wants to be a Shark," said coach Bob Boughner. "He's been a Shark for 99 per cent of his career so I think he's just happy it’s over. He's really digging in, helping these young guys."

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Lines at Monday's Leafs practice: 

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Nylander - Tavares - Kerfoot
Clifford - Spezza - Kapanen 
Engvall - Gauthier - Malgin
Mikheyev 

Dermott - Holl
Marincin - Barrie
Rosen - Liljegren / Sandin
Rielly - Ceci 

Campbell starts
Andersen 

Power-play units at Monday's Leafs practice: 

Barrie
Marner - Tavares - Matthews
Nylander 

Rosen
Spezza - Kerfoot - Kapanen
Hyman