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Grading every NHL team's centre depth

Huberdeau: Flames ‘made me think that they really care about me’

TSN Toronto Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Maple Leafs, who skated at Scotiabank arena on Saturday morning

Before the morning skate started, forward Mitch Marner glided over to the Toronto Maple Leafs home net and started throwing some mock punches at the post and crossbar that had knocked a tooth out of his linemate's mouth. 

Centre Auston Matthews  hasn't done much wrong on the ice of late while building a nine game point streak, but late in Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins he skated face first into the crossbar while chasing Penguins forward Sidney Crosby  behind the Leafs net. Matthews left the ice immediately, but returned for one more shift in Toronto's 4-1 win. 

"From what I saw he was just trying to stay on Sid there and the post kind of got in the way," said defenceman Jake Muzzin  before starting to laugh, "and bit him a little bit."

With Matthews having avoided any serious injury, the good-natured ribbing has commenced.

"There were some jokes about it," confirmed centre David Kampf  with a grin.

Perhaps some ammunition for the opposition? 

"Maybe I'll give him a little chirp here or there if I get the opportunity," said St. Louis Blues forward Tyler Bozak , who played with Matthews in Toronto from 2016-18. 

"It's looked better," Muzzin quipped. "But it happens. You know, you break teeth along the way. It's part of the game."

But it rarely happens like that. 

"You're dialled in there," Muzzin said. "I mean, like, you're in it. It's tough to explain. You're just trying to stay hard on those top guys."

"He's in pursuit," said coach Sheldon Keefe, "and making sure he's getting after him. His focus was not on the net in that case, but it does show what he was focused on in that moment."

Matthews was a big reason why Crosby saw his seven game point streak come to an end in Toronto. 

"It's always good for the team when the best player is playing good defence," noted Kampf. "That's perfect for us." 

Both Matthews and Marner have stressed that their defensive play is helping fuel their offensive surge of late. That's music to the ears of Muzzin, who is the only Stanley Cup champion on the roster. 

"Play away from the puck and without the puck is more important than play with the puck," Muzzin said. "The play with the puck, obviously, you see what they're capable of, but it's the commitment to the play without the puck that gets us the wins especially in tough games."

Matthews won't have to worry about chasing down forward Vladimir Tarasenko  tonight. The Blues leading scorer is day-to-day after picking up an injury during the Blues 3-2 overtime loss in Montreal on Thursday.. 

Bozak, who has sat out the last four games as a healthy scratch, will draw in for the Blues. 

"It's exciting, especially being back here where I have a lot of history," said Bozak, who hasn't suited up since Jan. 29. "I feel good and rested. Obviously I might be a little rusty the first few shifts. I haven't played in a while."

#stlblues projected lineup against Toronto: Saad-O'Reilly - Perron Buchnevich-Thomas-Kyrou Barbashev-Schenn-Sundqvist Kostin-Bozak-Brown Mikkola-Parayko Krug-Faulk Walman-Bortuzzo * Rosen was called up today, but Berube didn't say if he'll play. "We'll see." Husso/Binnington

The last time the Leafs played the Blues on Jan. 15, Muzzin was rocked by a big hit from forward Klim Kostin . He stayed in the game, but was later diagnosed with a concussion. Muzzin missed seven games before returning to the Leafs lineup on Feb. 10.

"It was tough coming back a little bit," Muzzin admitted. "You're a little hesitant maybe, but I feel more comfortable now ... I have to be physical or else I'm not as effective." 

Muzzin leads the Leafs in hits this season. Despite his gritty style of play, the 32-year-old has only had one other documented concussion in his career and it happened a decade ago. 

"When you're coming off an injury of that nature it takes a little bit of time not just to get up to the pace, but to be comfortable asserting yourself physically," noted Keefe, "and then also recognizing that other people are going to want to be physical around you. There's an adjustment period for sure and everyone handles it differently. Muzz doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience with this type of injury so there can be some anxiety associated with it and I think he's finding his way through it."

For the third straight game, Muzzin will be starting with a new defence partner. Muzzin and Justin Holl  were split up during Monday's win in Seattle where he finished with Timothy Liljegren . 

On Thursday, Muzzin lined up beside Rasmus Sandin , who shifted to the right side for the first time in his NHL career. It was the first time that duo had played together. 

On Saturday, Muzzin will be reunited with Liljegren, who was sent down to the American Hockey League briefly earlier this week in a cap-related move. 

"We didn't want to take Liljegren out," Keefe said. "He's played very well for us and deserves to be in the lineup. So, it's an easy decision to get him back in today and get him back with Muzzin."

Liljegren registered his first multi-point game in the NHL on Monday. The rookie scored his first career NHL goal in the last meeting against the Blues. 

"He's playing with more confidence and the upside is huge for him," Muzzin said.

Defenceman Morgan Rielly  scored off an end-to-end rush on Thursday night and goaltender Jack Campbell  was credited with a primary assist. It was Campbell's first point as a Leaf and only his second in the NHL. 

"I saw Mo streaking back on my right side and just left it for him perfectly and that's about it," Campbell said before breaking into a smile. "No, he made an unbelievable play. Just a world-class player and it was fun to watch."

Probably the assist of the year, right? 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/rJglBICs9h

Campbell was also fun to watch. He made 45 saves, a season high, to earn his first win over Crosby and the Penguins. 

"Maybe as calm and poised as he has looked all season," Keefe gushed. "I thought we defended pretty well, but at times there is a lot of stuff happening in tight. On even the difficult saves, he made it look easy. That was really, really good. He made the coach feel comfortable on the bench. He just looked calm. It seemed like he was tracking things really well. Any time it seemed like there was a dangerous shot coming, by the time it hit him it just settled and it seemed like it was easy with the way he was seeing it. It is unfortunate that we gave up the goal because we didn't do a good job on that. It was a tap-in. He deserved a shutout. I thought he was excellent. It is hard to say because he has been so good but, behind the bench, it was as good as he looked all season."

Campbell's save percentage on Thursday (.978) was his highest since a 6-0 shutout over the Ottawa Senators on New Year's Day.

Saturday's showdown will feature the top two power plays in the NHL. The Leafs lead the way having converted on 31.8 per cent of their chances. The Blues are second at 27.1 per cent.

Keefe is impressed that St. Louis is able to roll two equally dangerous units.  

"When healthy, it's two minutes when they're coming and you have to be ready for that," Keefe said. "There's no let up from the 10 guys that they're using."

The Leafs are brimming with confidence on the penalty kill. Toronto has actually scored a shorthanded goal in consecutive games. They are up to seven shorthanded scores on the season, which is tied for second in the NHL. 

The Leafs hope this may throw the Blues off a bit.  

"The moment you start talking to your power play about defence, you're already kind of behind the eight ball," Keefe said. "They're out there to score so if they're thinking about not getting scored on that's going to be an issue for them. Right now, we're in a good place where I'm sure they are talking about that a little bit."

"It's something we've touched upon," Blues forward Brandon Saad  confirmed. "For us, it's just being smart with the puck. They have a lot of offence and they can contribute even when shorthanded. It's being aware. We don't want to change our game too much. We still want to score goals but, at the same time, just being sharper with the puck."

Kampf has scored both shorthanded goals in the last two games. Although it was Marner who did most of the work to set him up with a nifty drop pass while on a breakaway during the Leafs 6-2 victory in Seattle on Monday. 

"I saw him at the blue line and he looked at me and I, a little bit, expected what he will do," Kampf recalled. "So, I was ready."

Why did he expect it? 

"I don't know," Kampf said, "because he's a great player. He makes this play. I saw him looking at me at the blue line so I was ready."

Kampf's shorthanded tally against Pittsburgh was his seventh goal of the season in his 47th game. He had just one goal in 56 games last year with the Chicago Blackhawks. What's behind the increase? 

"Maybe because Toronto is playing more, like, with the puck than I played with in Chicago," Kampf mused. "Maybe this is the reason, but I don't know."

Leafs lines at Saturday's morning skate: 

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

Rielly - Brodie  Muzzin - Liljegren  Sandin - Holl  Dermott 

Keefe checks in with Dermott, who projects to sit for the third time in the last four games pic.twitter.com/IzxoRXxLbb