The Maple Leafs practiced at the MasterCard Centre on Monday.

- The sprint is about to begin. Starting on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs will play 18 games in the final 34 days of the NHL's regular season. That makes this current gap between games so valuable. The Leafs wrapped up their California trip on Friday night and will not play again until Tuesday when they host the Red Wings. "It's important," head coach Mike Babcock said after Monday's 35-minute practice. "We had two good skates here. Not long today, but still a good skate. We're not going on the ice tomorrow [morning] so we should be fresh." The coach described the break as "kind of a reset button for us." It was a chance to regroup and find a way to turn the tide after five straight losses. "We probably won't get another stretch like this for the rest of the year so you got to take advantage of it and make sure you're geared up and ready to go," said James van Riemsdyk. Toronto won't have another break this long the rest of the way. In fact, the team will only have two days off between games two more times this season (March 12-13, March 26-27). "Just the rest and being at home for a few days has been the best part," said Tyler Bozak.

- The break comes at a good time for van Riemsdyk, Bozak and Mitch Marner, who were on the ice for four goals against on Friday in Anaheim. "They got wounded twice this year," said Babcock. "One with the Islanders [Oct. 30 in Brooklyn] and then other night they got touched up good. The bottom line is, you can't outscore your mistakes in this league so they got to be better without [the puck] and they got to be better with it. But those guys have been good for us so we need them to get on a roll like the rest of the team and I think that's going to happen." Needless to say, adjustments will be made. "We can definitely tighten up," Bozak admitted. "One of the goals we kind of lost our F3 and had a pinch and they went down. We lost coverage in the D zone [on another goal] and I think all three of us didn't do a good enough job in that game. I know Mitch was getting a lot of flak, but I think all of us didn't do a good enough job and we'll be better now."

- Marner's turnover led to the second Ducks goal and the rookie appeared to lose his man on the fourth one. "He actually, probably, should have worse games than he has had," said Bozak. "I mean, it's his first year in the league and you got to expect ups and downs. I think he's had maybe one off game this whole year so that's going to happen and that's part of a long season." Marner, who has two assists in three games since returning from a shoulder injury, insists he's already moved on. "If you think about the past then it's going to haunt you in the future," the teenager said. "It's kind of the best time to play hockey right now. It's the enjoyment part, it's fun so it's time to really [buckle down] here and be ready to play." On Sunday, Babcock noted that his young players were finding out that there's less space to manoeuvre on the ice now versus the start of the season. "It's always like that," said Marner, "no matter where you play, coming close to playoff time every team tightens up. We just got to make sure we're playing smart with the puck. I think when we're getting the puck up quick that's when we're at our best so we got to keep doing that." Despite missing five games, Marner remains second in team scoring (50 points) and first in assists (35). The Leafs expect to lean heavily on the diminutive winger down the stretch. "He's been very consistent for us the whole year," JVR said. "I'm not too worried about Mitch. I know he's ready to go and he thrives in these bigger games."

- Auston Matthews made sure Marner's spirits remained high after practice on Monday. The first- overall pick, who is usually quite reserved after scoring goals in games, decided to imitate linemate Zach Hyman's recent goal celebration. "Been playing with him all year, you get to know him pretty well, he's obviously an unbelievable guy, but, yeah, it's fun to mess around with him a bit," Matthews said with a smile when asked about the post-practice tomfoolery. "It's pretty funny watching him," said Marner, who was laughing so hard during the imitation that he fell to the ice at one point. "I think a lot of people don't understand how big of a jokester he is at times. He looks pretty serious, but that's not his personality at all." Marner believes it's important to keep the mood light even with the team currently mired in its longest losing streak of the season. "We're having fun in here," the 2016 Memorial Cup champion said. "Staying light with each other, joking around and that's how you stay positive and happy and when we're doing that I think that's when we're playing our best as well."

- Babcock's son, Michael, plays for the Merrimack College Warriors while van Riemsdyk’s younger brother, Brendan, plays for the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. So, the coach and player placed a friendly wager on the recent Hockey East Tournament opening-round series between the two schools. The Wildcats won the third and deciding game on Sunday night, which meant Babcock had to pay up after Monday's practice. The coach started his media session wearing a Merrimack hat before taking it off and replacing it with a UNH hat. It's not the first time Babcock has lost a wager with a player. During the world juniors he lost a bet with Matthews over the gold-medal game between Canada and the United States. "I lost to Auston, but I haven't brought that in yet," Babcock said. "I haven't paid up. I have the wine. I got it all done. I have three bottles from that world junior thing. I lost one to (general manager) Lou [Lamoriello], lost one to Auston and one to [director of player evaluation] Jimmy Paliafito so I'm down three bottles of wine, but this one [points to hat] hurts the most."

- Ben Smith was absent from practice on Monday due to a medical appointment. "Smitty's getting the wires in his finger taken out," Babcock revealed. "He's had it wired up and it's the size of a leg, but he's been fighting through it and so, ideally, this will help him so he can get going again." Smith broke his finger on Dec. 17 and missed the next 18 games. But the centre, picked up off waivers earlier this season, wasn't the same after he returned, especially when it came to taking face-offs. Smith has been scratched in five of the last six games.

- Defenceman Connor Carrick, out since Feb. 21 with an upper-body injury, was spotted in full equipment the last two days and, presumably, has been skating on his own. There is no timeline for his return. "He worked out hard," Babcock said. "He's doing what he can to get back."

Lines at Monday's practice:

Hyman-Matthews-Brown

Komarov-Kadri-Nylander

Van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner

Martin-Boyle-Soshnikov

Fehr, Leivo

Rielly-Zaitsev

Gardiner-Marchenko

Hunwick-Polak

Marincin

Andersen

McElhinney