Maple Leafs haven’t been playing at their best when competing against the worst

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After having spent the past week in warm places the Maple Leafs are returning to the mostly cold and hard grind of the final two months of the NHL’s regular season.

They could hardly be much better than to have the fourth-best winning percentage among 32 teams and, banning an unexpected plunge, seem well placed for the playoffs. As always a bigger problem will likely be advancing; at present five of the NHL’s top six times are in the Eastern Conference and three (Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay) are in the Atlantic Division.

Toronto played the first of its 30 remaining games at Columbus on Friday night and will entertain the lowly Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. Despite possessing bona fide stars in Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine, Columbus is at the bottom of the heap and should make for a soft re-entry to a return to action.

Of course the Maple Leafs are usually not at their best when playing the worst so there is a need to proceed with caution.

“We have placed a greater emphasis on these types of games,” Alexander Kerfoot, the Toronto forward, said Friday morning. “We have had trouble with them in the past. We know how much parity there is in the league. On any given night, anybody can beat anyone.”

The team was forced to shuffle a few things during the all-star break. Almost predictably, it was announced on Thursday that the oft-injured Matt Murray remains hobbled with an ankle issue and that Joseph Woll has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies to serve as the backup goalie to Ilya Samsonov.

Generally speaking Murray has been good when healthy but has now missed long stretches of games, just as he did in recent seasons with Ottawa. Him being sidelined should not present as much a problem as feared in October because of the emergence of Samsonov.

The 25-year-old was 17-6-2 with a .913 save percentage as he headed into Friday’s encounter in the Ohio capital.

“I feel so good,” Samsonov said Thursday. He spent the all-star pause in Miami Beach with his wife and fellow Russians Ilya Lyubushkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov and their wives and children. “I am ready for this. It is a good opportunity for me right now. I want to play every day.”

Because of Murray’s unavailability Samsonov carried a heavier load than anticipated over the first 52 games. He will probably get the day off on Saturday with Woll, who in the AHL this season was 13-1 with a .930 save ratio, getting the nod.

“He is a guy we are really excited about,” Sheldon Keefe, the Maple Leafs coach, said of Woll. “The injury to Murray created an opportunity for him to come up here. He comes up at a time when he should have an abundance of confidence with how he has played. He has been tremendous.

“I don’t know if his numbers could be any better than they are.”

Keefe also has brought up Alex Steeves from the Marlies. The forward from Notre Dame was scheduled to play on the right wing on the fourth line Friday with Zach Aston-Reese and Pontus Holmberg. Steeves had 16 goals and 38 points in 44 games in the AHL this season.

Toronto returned to practice on Thursday and Auston Matthews, who has a sprained knee, skated with the team but wore a noncontact jersey. It is still uncertain when the sharpshooting centre will return.

General manager Kyle Dubas was also there and addressed journalists about a number of issues.

The trade deadline is March 3 and Dubas is looking for pieces to shore up the lineup, but not necessary big-name players.

“If there is a way we can improve the team and give ourselves a chance to make a run at it, then we’ll do that,” Dubas said. “The larger focus is always on the bigger names, but we have to look at the people who may improve us overall and not just the big names per se.

“In regards to rentals, I can’t see that happening. With regards to other options, I don’t think you say no off the hop to anything.”

The Maple Leafs’ goal is to chip away at Boston’s division lead – 13 points as of Friday and keep ahead of the Lightning, who are a close third in the Atlantic Division.

“You know what you are working toward but coming out of a break you want to get your game up and running,” Keefe said.