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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Kristen Shilton checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who held an optional morning skate at Bell Centre in Montreal.

The Maple Leafs’ blueline is going to look a little different come Saturday night in Montreal, but it'll be for the greater good of the team.

Since Toronto has already clinched its postseason berth, and the Canadiens were eliminated from playoff contention when Columbus beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday, there’s nothing really on the line in this regular season finale. So Leafs’ head coach Mike Babcock said defencemen Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev, Travis Dermott and Jake Muzzin will all sit the game out.

“We have some people who are a little banged up that aren’t going to play,” Babcock explained after the Leafs’ optional morning skate on Saturday. “And the guys that are going to play obviously, it’s your last opportunity to get your game in order as best you possibly can. We really want to get our game in order as best we can and we want everyone to come out healthy.”

The Leafs have had to deal with multiple injuries to their defence corps in the second half of the season, most notably to Jake Gardiner and Dermott, but the club is tantalizingly close now to having all their principal players up and running for the postseason. Gardiner returned to the lineup on Thursday after missing 18 games with a back injury, and Dermott too has been getting back in a rhythm since a shoulder issue cost him 14 games.

The Leafs hope using caution against Montreal will yield dividends when playoffs begin next week.

“When we get our group back, it’s a pretty good group,” Babcock said of his defence. “We haven’t had that group now for five or six weeks, but in saying that, we’re hopeful they’ll be all on board and all ready to go for Game 1.”

For those suiting up in Saturday’s tilt, there’s still plenty to play for too, even if it won’t impact Toronto’s place in the standings. John Tavares is only three goals off 50 this season, and Kasperi Kapanen is one score away from the first 20-goal season of his career.

In Kapanen’s case especially, feeling good offensively would be a huge boon going into Boston. The winger has tallied only one goal in his last 21 games, despite showing steady improvement overall in the Leafs’ last few contests.

“Kappy plays hard all the time. His biggest thing is just believing in himself and shooting the puck,” said Babcock. “I think he’s played real well here his last three games…[he’s been] pretty consistent, and he just works hard all the time.”

The lack of pressure relating to an outcome Saturday will afford players the opportunity to focus in a little more on individual areas of growth, ones that will benefit the Leafs as a whole in the first round.

“You just want to try as best you can to end on the right note,” said Tavares. “It’s been a long season, a lot of ups and downs. Overall I think to put ourselves in the position [we have], we should be pretty happy about it but certainly we’re not satisfied with it and you want to continue to always be pushing yourself to be better. [Tonight is] the last opportunity to get out there and get a good result, feel good about yourself and play well.”

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The Leafs may be finishing this season third in the Atlantic Division, and starting playoffs on the road against second-seeded Boston, but don’t call Toronto underdogs in the series. At least not to Babcock.

“I checked the standings today, looks like we’re a pretty good team,” he said. “You can say whatever you want. The biggest thing for me is we know who we’re playing, we know where the meal is the night before, we’re set up; we’ll be ready to go.”

Part of the underdog narrative stems from the Leafs’ Game 7 loss to the Bruins in the first round last year, not to mention the 1-3-0 record Toronto posted against its division rivals this regular season. But unlike last spring, when the Leafs didn’t know they’d be facing Boston until the last game of the year, the two teams have been on a postseason collision course for weeks, allowing more time for focused preparation.

“Guys are definitely talking about it a lot more,” Tavares said of the ramp up to playoffs. “I know a lot of the guys here obviously had a tough defeat against Boston last year, so I think everyone is hungry and excited and a great opportunity. They have some very good young players there as well, so it’ll be a tough matchup but one we’re looking forward to. To get where we want to get to, you’re going to have to beat a lot of very good quality hockey teams and it’s going to be a good battle.”

Like it or not, the Bruins’ come-from-behind win in last April’s Game 7 still hangs over the Leafs to a certain degree, especially with a re-match looming. But one of the most effective ways of exorcising past demons may be to learn from them.

“It’s just experience, having guys in the room who were part of the series last year,” said Morgan Rielly on how the Leafs have changed. “New faces, guys that were involved are that much better for it. I think it’s just another year behind us, I think we feel good about where we’re at with our game, guys are more comfortable with what’s to come and I think that’s a good sign.”

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If there was a rock bottom defensively for the Leafs this season, it had to the excruciatingly bad week in mid-March where they gave up 23 goals in four games, while allowing an average of 38.5 shots-against in each tilt.

Since then, Toronto has set about tightening up its back-end, limiting six of their next nine opponents to 30 shots or less and winning the possession battle in seven of those nine games.

It didn’t come easily for the Leafs, but the evolution of their defensive game has been a jolt of confidence in these last couple weeks.

“We’ve worked really hard, done a lot of video, done a lot of work in practice, put a lot of emphasis on it,” Tavares said of those improvements. “Still trying to find ways to get better and limit as many opportunities as we can, realize how much offence we get from defending well. But certainly we’ve made a lot of great strides in that area and certainly we’re going to have to [continue that] going into next week.”

At the height of their defensive struggles, players talked about having conversations amongst one another about accountability and addressing concerns that were impacting the team as a whole. Now the Leafs feel they’re successfully out of the woods in that respect, but nowhere near done trying to get better.

“A few weeks ago we went through a dry spell and I think we worked our way out of it, I think we feel good about where we’re at right now,” said Rielly. “We feel confident, we like our structure, we like what we have going on. It’s a good spot to be in.”

And for all the changes the Leafs have endured defensively this season – trading for Muzzin in January, losing Gardiner and Dermott to injury – Rielly’s confidence in the blueline extends to how it’s coming together at the right time of year.

“I think we feel good,” he said. “Adding Muz was big for us, he’s a good player. Jake [Gardiner] seems to be healthy. We feel good about where we’re at. We have a good week of practice next week so we’re looking forward to that, and use that as an opportunity to get ready.”

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Maple Leafs projected lines vs. Canadiens:

Hyman-Tavares-Marner

Johnsson-Matthews-Kapanen

Marleau-Kadri-Nylander

Moore-Gauthier-Brown

 

Gardiner-Rielly

Rosen-Holl

Marincin-Ozhiganov

 

Andersen starts

Hutchinson