Leafs on a milestone mission for Marner in regular-season finale

The Toronto Maple Leafs skated at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. 

Mitch Marner set up the goal Auston Matthews scored on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, but didn't get credited with an assist. Why? 

"That's a great question," the Leafs winger said with a smile. "The NHL doesn't think so. I don't know. Great question, but I try and just do the right things and play the right game and let it speak for itself."

The league ruled that the puck changed possession because Jake Evans kicked Marner's pass before Matthews quickly corralled it and scored. So instead of 100 points, Marner enters the final regular season game stuck on 99. 

"It's a big milestone," said Matthews. "We'll do our best to try and get him that tonight."

Last year, Matthews became just the third player in franchise history to reach triple digits joining Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour, who each did twice. 

Matthews scored two goals in his final game of the regular season last year to reach 60. He knows what it's like to be chasing a special number.

"There's always things you want to try and accomplish and especially when they're right there why not go out and grab them," he said. "It's never really the main focus. Obviously, it's always on the team and trying to accomplish something together, but ... obviously everyone is pulling for him. We'd love to see him accomplish that."

Matthews will start Thursday's game in his usual spot beside Marner on the top line. 

"He's talked to me about it the last couple days," said Marner of the milestone mission, "wanting to find me."

Marner admitted it's on his mind. 

"You just try to play the game you play every day," Marner said. "That's how you go about it. You go out there and work and make sure you do the right things before the real thing starts." 

Marner recorded 97 points despite missing 10 games last season. He was rested in the regular season finale. He's been rested in two games this season, including on Tuesday.

"For as long a history as this game has had, you know, 50 goals and 100 points have always been pretty cool markers as an offensive player to hit," Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said earlier this week. "So when you get close you definitely don't want to be stuck at a number that is one less or two less. I've done that before and it kind of lingers with you a little bit."

Stamkos finished seasons with 95 points, 97 points and 98 points before finally reaching the century mark last year. 

"It's not the end of the world but it's something, when you look back on your career, you can say you've been [a] part [of it]," Stamkos said. 

For all his success, Patrick Kane has only hit 100 points twice in his career. He believes Marner is worthy of membership in the club. 

"He's an amazing player," the New York Rangers winger said. "He's a guy that I enjoy watching. If you're going to watch a hockey game, like, he's a hockey player. He knows how to play the game and hang onto the puck and make plays and also does the defensive end too. Yeah, I mean, it's a big number. Obviously, we're trying to shut him down tonight, but I think he's a special player."

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, over the last 15 years there have been three instances of a player reaching 100 points in his team's last game: Connor McDavid (2016-17), Claude Giroux (2017-18), and Sidney Crosby (2018-19).

Marner saw his franchise record 23-game point streak come to an end the last time he visited Madison Square Garden on Dec. 15. 

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John Tavares and Sam Lafferty have gone home for personal reasons and will not play on Thursday. 

Lafferty, whose wife is due to give birth soon, has also been dealing with an injury issue, which forced him to miss the last two games. 

"He's been progressing," assured coach Sheldon Keefe. "I'm not sure the exact day we'll get him back, but the expectation from how he's trending is he'll be back on the ice when he returns."

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Mark Giordano skated on Thursday morning, but the defenceman will sit out a second straight game. 

"Gio's got a minor injury that he's dealing with so wanted to get him on the ice today and get a feel for it and just makes sense to give him the extra day," said Keefe. "He's not too far away from being at 100 per cent."

Erik Gustafsson is also sidelined after tweaking something during the warm-up for Monday's game in Florida. 

The injury to Gustafsson forced the Leafs to scrap a plan to rest Jake McCabe in Tampa. McCabe proceeded to post a game-high five blocked shots in the win over the Lightning. 

"He gives us everything he has all the time," said Keefe. "He has played a lot of minutes and a lot of hockey for us. He doesn't take a shift off. There is nothing easy about how he plays. I thought he was great."

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With Matthews and Marner being rested on Tuesday, defenceman Conor Timmins was asked to play right wing. 

"A lot of panic to begin with," he admitted with a smile. "But as the game went on I started to get more used to it and felt comfortable."

Timmins had never played forward before even as a kid. The biggest adjustment? 

"Just the skating and how much you're just going the whole shift," the 24-year-old said. "It just seems like the play's happening all around you and you're just sprinting from one spot to another. On defence a lot of the time you're kind of gliding up the ice and reading the play in front of you."

Timmins, who had one shot on net while logging eight minutes and 29 seconds, felt his defence-first tendencies taking over at times. 

"I was definitely F3 most of the game," he said with a laugh. "It's kind of nerve wracking when you have two guys behind you even though it's just a 2-on-2 so I was trying to stay high a lot."

Timmins once again skated as a forward on Thursday morning. He's only played two games since the trade deadline when he was pushed to No. 9 on the defence depth chart. 

"It's always good to get into games and have that competitiveness and get into battles so that's always nice," he said. "You never know when you're going to be called upon so it's nice to stay fresh." 

The message from Keefe before Tuesday's game? 

"Just have fun with it," the coach said. "He's an offensive guy. Any time you get a chance to be in uniform as an NHL player, especially for a guy like him that has worked very hard and played very little, you should just be excited to play." 

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After starting his NHL career by playing on consecutive days, Matthew Knies finally got a chance to catch his breath on Wednesday as the team enjoyed a day off in New York. 

"Haven't had much sleep in the past week so it was nice to have a good rest and just be around the guys, chat with the guys and get to know them better," the left winger said. "It was a good day for me."

It's been a strong start for Knies, who had to transition quickly after his Minnesota Golden Gophers lost in overtime of the national championship game on Saturday night. He made his NHL debut on Monday after Lafferty's injury forced the Leafs to insert him into the lineup immediately. Knies picked up his first point, an assist, on Tuesday in Tampa where he played on a line with William Nylander and Ryan O'Reilly. 

"An off day yesterday was hopefully a chance for him to sort of settle in a little bit," said Keefe. "But he's shown us that the moment or the adjustment isn't all that big for him. Like, he's really stepped right in and done a good job and played with confidence.

"There's going to be mistakes and adjustments still to be made, but he's been impressive."

Knies hasn't even had a full practice with his new team. 

"I'm still learning how to play in our O-zone, how to play in our D-zone," he acknowledged. "So, I need to tighten those details up a little bit."

The 6-foot-2, 210 pounder from Phoenix has not looked overmatched physically. 

"He's got this big body and can use it down in corners and puts people on his back," observed Marner. "A strong 20-year-old, I'll tell you that."

Knies will stick on a line with Nylander and O'Reilly as he plays his first game at Madison Square Garden. 

"It's a special barn and excited to play in it," he said. "I've heard good stories here so I'm excited to be a part of it."

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, 190 players have scored their first NHL goal at the current Madison Square Garden, including current Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, who did it with the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 10, 1987. TSN analyst Jeff O'Neill, who will be on the panel for TSN's broadcast on Thursday, also scored his first goal at MSG on Oct. 16, 1995 when he played for the Hartford Whalers.  

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Ilya Samsonov returned to the ice on Thursday, but will not dress against the Rangers as he works through a minor injury issue. 

"I am not going to get into the specifics other than it is something he has dealt with and will deal with," general manager Kyle Dubas said on Tuesday. 

Joseph Woll, who was recalled on an emergency basis only hours before Tuesday's game in Tampa, will make a second straight start. 

Samuel Richard, who backstopped the University of New Brunswick to a U Sports championship last month, signed an amateur tryout agreement and will serve as the back-up goalie. It's the fourth straight game that Toronto will use an ATO goalie as the back-up. 

On Saturday, the Leafs allowed University of Toronto goalie Jett Alexander to play the final 70 seconds during a 7-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Keefe revealed that he didn't make the call on putting Alexander in. Who did? 

"I wasn't at the game," said Dubas, who was in Tampa watching Knies play at the time. "I know there has been a lot of discussion about it. I don't really care what other people think, frankly, and what people say about why he got in ... The thing with Jett that people should know is that Jett Alexander has been around our program for a number of years as an ATO guy and an emergency guy. He donates a lot of his time to be there just in case. He goes out of his way to be there for practices for other teams and our team. The University of Toronto and head coach Ryan Medel have been great partners for us. They are always quick to have their people come and be a part of practice — forwards, D, Jett, or other members of their club. In the end, my reflection on it is that it was the right thing. I thought it was a nice thing to do given what Jett has done volunteering his time and what the University of Toronto program has done for us."

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Jonathan Toews, who's in the final year of his current contract, will play his final game with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. The team announced that their long-serving captain, who led them to three Stanley Cups, will not be brought back. 

"He's a legend," said Kane, who was traded by Chicago to New York earlier this season. "He turned that franchise around. It's pretty impressive what he's done with his career, but just for that city in general, you know, great with the fans, great with the people. He was a guy that led our team so he's a legend."

Kane and Toews entered the league together in the 2007-08 season. 

"He was like a brother," said Kane. "Obviously, he was a lot more mature than I was coming into the league and ahead of his years too. Great to come in with him and a lot of great memories just on the ice, off the ice as roommates, you know, everything."

Any moment that stands out in particular? 

"I look back at all the adversity we went through as a team," said Kane. "Even now that I think about it, he was going through all the health stuff in the bubble and he was probably our best player in the bubble. He was grinding through and helping lead our team past Edmonton in that play-in round and just real impressive stuff like that. I look back to the three Stanley Cups. Him giving [Marian] Hossa the Cup after we won in 2010.  He was out best player on the ice in Game 6 when we won in 2013. You know, 2015, obviously winning at home was special. He was the leader of all those teams. He was the guy." 

Toews, 34, will finish his Blackhawks career on Thursday when Chicago hosts the Philadelphia Flyers. 

"Happy he's back playing and hope he can come back," said Kane. "Even though maybe it won't be with the Hawks maybe he can join another team because he's a good person to have around the game. He's good for the league so I hope it all works out for him."

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Lines at Thursday's skate:

Bunting* - Matthews - Marner 
Knies - O'Reilly - Nylander* 
Kerfoot* - Acciari - Jarnkrok 
Aston-Reese - Kampf* - Timmins 

Brodie - Holl 
Rielly - Schenn 
McCabe - Liljegren 
Giordano 

Woll starts 
Richard 
Samsonov 
* Played in every game this season 

Power-play units at Thursday's skate: 

Rielly 
Matthews - O’Reilly - Marner 
Knies 

Liljegren 
Jarnkrok - Kerfoot - Nylander 
Bunting