The Maple Leafs and New York Islanders (optional) skated at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

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The Leafs are responding well after not responding at all.

Toronto is 2-0-1 after watching captain Auston Matthews leave last Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks in the second period following a knee-on-knee hit by Radko Gudas.

Matthews sustained a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion and will not play again this season. Gudas received a five-game suspension by the NHL department of player safety.

None of the Leafs on the ice confronted Gudas immediately after the hit. Head coach Craig Berube made it clear that was unacceptable in the intermission, which led to a big third period and the team’s first win since Feb. 3 snapping an eight-game skid (0-6-2).

“Obviously, I wish I did something and that’s on me,” said rookie Easton Cowan, who was the closest teammate to Matthews when he got hit by Gudas. “I gotta step in there, stick up for my teammate, so I’ll learn from that for sure … I feel like we’re just kind of playing for him now and playing with a lot of passion.”

Toronto followed up Thursday’s comeback win by earning three of four points during a tough road back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild over the weekend.

“Sometimes it’s a wake-up call,” Berube said. “It really is … if I look back from that game on and how competitive we’ve been and how physical we’ve been, it’s a big difference for me.”

“It brought a little bit more fire to our game,” said winger William Nylander, who passed the puck to Matthews before he got hit by Gudas.

The entire hockey world seemed to be talking about what happened and the Leafs certainly continued to talk about it.

“It’s something we’ve talked about almost daily,” Berube revealed. “About getting in there for each other and being physical and hard to play against.”

The coach pointed out that defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson jumped right in after goalie Joseph Woll got run into by Noah Ostlund on Saturday night.

“OEL’s right in there and we have everybody in there,” said Berube. “That’s what we need to look like all the time.”

The Leafs registered 35 hits Saturday in Buffalo, which matched their season high in that department.

The Leafs had a season-high 28 blocked shots in their win over the Wild on Sunday.

“We’re playing a little bit harder, a little more competitive,” said defenceman Jake McCabe, who blocked nine shots. “It’s good to see. We need to continue that on.”

‘Brought more fire’: Leafs talk about lack of response to Gudas knee on Matthews ‘almost daily’ After Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews went down from a knee-on-knee collision with Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas, head coach Craig Berube did not like the teams lack of response about the incident but sees it as a ‘wake up call’ to his team to play with a bit more edge competitively and physically.

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Berube did not like what he was seeing at Tuesday’s morning skate and continually let the players know about it.

“We just didn’t seem as sharp,” said centre John Tavares. “Not as much zip out there this morning. He was pretty intense and brought the emotion early today. Sometimes that’s needed in a long season and a grind. Obviously we’ve had quite the schedule here of late and got in very late after [Sunday’s game] and sometimes a morning like this can come across as a little sleepier, so [he’s] just trying to grab everyone’s attention and making sure we’re ready to go.”

Due to the condensed schedule, the Leafs have opted to hold just one full practice since the games resumed following the Olympic break.

“It was a long, long flight from Minny home, and guys are a little sleepy,” Berube said. “We don’t have a lot of practice time, so when we do some structure drills, I want them done properly more than anything.”

At one point, Berube told his top line of Tavares between Matias Maccelli and Nylander not to go for the tic-tac-toe play because it won’t be available during the game.

“Shooting the puck,” Berube said of his message during the skate. “Harped on that a lot, trying to get more shot volume out of our guys.”

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The report out of Islanders practice on Monday was that rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer expected to have 1,000 supporters in the stands for his first homecoming game in Toronto.

Is that true?

“Just with people I’ve grew up with and things like that, like teachers and family and stuff like that, it could be close to that,” the Hamilton, Ont. native said with a smile. “That could be pushing it a little bit. I saw that [number] come out, could be pushing it a bit, but, yeah, there’s going to be so many people here.”

Among those in the crowd will be his paternal grandmother, who will be attending in a wheelchair.

“This actually could be her first NHL game ever and it will be the first time watching me in the NHL,” Schaefer said. “I think she’s come to a couple minor hockey games growing up so that will be pretty special for me and her tonight. It will be awesome.”

Schaefer grew up a Leafs fan and was actually in the stands wearing a Matthews sweater during the Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers last spring. Asked what the game means to him overall, the 18-year-old defenceman kept the focus on New York’s playoff push.

“I’m super excited for tonight’s game, but you don’t want to get carried away from what we got going on as this team,” the Calder Trophy frontrunner said. “I think we’re going to come out hot.”

Schaefer scored twice, including the overtime winner, in his first game against the Leafs on Jan. 3.

“He’s been handling all that very well,” said head coach Patrick Roy. “Playing in Montreal was a good one and he handled it really well and same thing when the Leafs came in on Long Island … I feel like he’s handling those situations really well.”

Schaefer expects close to 1,000 supporters in building for first NHL game in Toronto Hamilton Ontario native Matthew Schaefer will have nearly 1,000 friends and family in attendance at Scotiabank Arena for his first game in Toronto as the Islanders take on the Maple Leafs Tuesday night. Schaefer spoke about coming back to his roots in his homecoming game, what the game means to him and who he expects to see in the stands cheering him on.

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How many people did Tavares have in the stands when he played his first NHL game in Toronto during the 2009-10 season?

“I want to say 70, 80 maybe,” he recalled. “I feel like that’s pretty high.”

So, what does Tavares think of the latest Islanders first-overall pick expecting close to 1,000 people?

“That’s what he said?” Tavares responded with surprise. “I don’t know him, but you see from afar, and what a lot of people say about his character, pretty impressive head he has on his shoulders to go along with the hockey player that he is.”

Schaefer is averaging 24 minutes and 21 seconds of ice time per game. He’s scored 20 goals, which is tied for the lead among all rookies.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” said Tavares, who scored 24 goals as a rookie. “He’s doing things only a handful of players have done. It’s extremely, extremely impressive. He’s not just a franchise player, but he’s certainly put himself in a generational type of a talent.”

Tavares praises ‘generational’ Schaefer, reflects on his first homecoming game John Tavares spoke with media ahead of the Maple Leafs’ tilt with the Islanders Tuesday night and shared his thoughts on the incredible talent of Hamilton, Ontario native Matthew Schaefer, who is playing his first game in Toronto. Tavares also reminisced about his performance in his first homecoming game and what it meant to him to have friends in family there in support.

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Does fellow Islanders rookie Cal Ritchie feel like his homecoming game is getting overshadowed?

“By Schaefer’s 1,000 people coming?” the Oakville, Ont. native asked with a grin. “I don’t know. I’m just glad to have all my family here, all my friends. It’s going to be a blast.”

Ritchie notes he’s “playing for free” on Tuesday even though he doesn’t have as many people coming as Schaefer.

Ritchie attended plenty of games at Scotiabank Arena while growing up a Leafs fan.

“It’s crazy,” the 21-year-old forward said. “I was at dinner with my parents yesterday, my sister, and we were talking about just how crazy it is I’m playing in this building. It will be pretty cool to be on that ice tonight.”

In Schaefer’s shadow, Isles’ Ritchie prepares for his own ‘crazy’ homecoming game Oakville, Ontario’s Calum Ritchie is also playing his first game in Toronto tonight and reacted to Matthew Schaefer’s near 1,000 guests in attendance, reflects on what it means to play at Scotiabank Arena and explains who will be in the stands this evening in support of him.

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Nylander missed Toronto’s first game against Schaefer and the Islanders due to injury.

“I watched that game when we played him last time,” Nylander said. “He had a great game. I haven’t really been watching too much, but just been hearing that he’s having a great year so it will be fun to play him for the first time.”

Nylander will be looking to start a new point streak after his eight-game run came to an end on Sunday.

Nylander leads the Leafs with 63 points despite playing just 51 games. The team will lean on him even more with Matthews out.

“He obviously has the ability to score goals and produce for us,” said Berube. “And that’s part of his job. But the other side of the game is he’s accountable to checking and doing all the right things like everybody else.”

Berube had Nylander do a penalty-kill rep during the morning skate.

“He’s done it before and we’re short on PKers a little bit,” Berube said. “He’s got such a good stick and quickness that he can make it dangerous for the other team at times.”

Berube may use Nylander at the end of penalty kills moving forward.

“I’m just testing it out and we’ll see what happens with it,” Nylander said with a grin.

What is Nylander looking to get out of the final 14 games?

“Just to play good as a team and I think building our game and have a good feeling with where our game’s at regardless of what happens,” the 29-year-old Swede said.

Nylander hopes Leafs can build good feeling about team game ‘regardless what happens’ With only a few weeks left in the NHL season, Leafs forward William Nylander hopes to have the team build their game to a place where they can feel happy about where they are at season’s close. Head coach Craig Berube says he wants to see a certain level of competitiveness out of Nylander down the stretch and explains why he’s found a home on the penalty kill.

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Ekman-Larsson did not take part in Tuesday’s skate after missing Sunday’s game to be with his wife for the birth of the couple’s second child. The Swede’s status for the game against the Islanders is up in the air.

“He’s spent the last couple days in the hospital with his wife, so he’s resting right now,” Berube said. “He’ll give me an update later on that.”

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Lines at Leafs skate:

Maccelli – Tavares – Nylander

Knies – Domi – Cowan

Joshua – Groulx – Robertson

Lorentz – Quillan – Jarnkrok

Rielly – Myers

McCabe – Carlo

Benoit – Stecher

Woll starts

Stolarz