Leafs need Marner to stand tall in rivalry

Stuck in a season- worst three-game points drought, Toronto’s Mitch Marner needs a big game on Saturday when the Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena.

Marner will likely see a lot of time against Brendan Gallagher, a player of similar stature who brings a physical edge to his game.

Here are 5 Things to Watch: Two weeks ago when these rivals clashed, the hype was about the atmosphere in Montreal. In staid old Toronto, the Leafs must avoid the kind of defensive mistakes that burned them against the Caps. Thursday’s loss to the Caps was another one off the charts where hits on the Leafs were concerned, 35-17 in Washington’s favour. When the Habs and Leafs last met, they were tallied at 49-16 for the home team, despite the Leafs win. The Leafs have been taking notes on No. 11, Montreal’s goal leader.“It’s his ability to get pucks back, win pucks and make plays in traffic,” head coach Mike Babcock said of Gallagher. If the Habs have reason to be concerned, it’s their leagueworst power play having to be on the lookout for the rabbits on Toronto’s penalty kill and how they’ll manage against the Leafs’ hot centres, who are second to the Flyers in league faceoff winning percentage. Both games this season went to overtime and nine meetings of the old combatants since 2014-15 have been decided by a goal. The last three have seen goalie duels between Frederik Andersen and Carey Price.