Maple Leafs prepare for meeting with the ‘best team in the league’

Mike Babcock has a long memory, and certainly can recall what happened almost a year ago when the Los Angeles Kings visited the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

The Kings, who will be the Leafs’ opposition on Monday night at the ACC, beat the Leafs 7-0 last Nov. 8.

“They smacked us around,” Babcock said on Sunday following practice at the MasterCard Centre. “But I also think you need lessons in your life. When everything goes good all the time, that’s not good for you.

“You need a good tightening every once in a while. I thought we got it last night (in a 6-3 loss in Ottawa against the Senators)

“We have the best team in the league coming in, they have not lost yet, they have real good back end, good forwards, playing well, good goaltending, it’s going to be a real challenge for us and that’s what we need. We need a real challenge. We did not handle it really well last night.”

With a record of 6-0-1, the Kings are the lone National Hockey League club in 2017-18 which has not lost in regulation and their plus-13 goal differential is best in the NHL. The Leafs, who start a three-game home stand before heading to California to start a four-game trip, aren’t far behind at 6-2-0, but the loss in Ottawa stung.

When the Leafs and Kings met in Los Angeles last March, the Kings won 3-2 in a shootout.

The Kings won’t have Jeff Carter, who is recovering from surgery to mend a cut on his left leg. Veterans Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, though, have paced the Kings and are tied for the team scoring lead with 11 points each.

Then there’s Drew Doughty, who ranks among the top dynamic defencemen in the game.

“He’s a hell of a player,” Babcock said. “Can stickhandle in a phone booth. Great offensive instincts. He is as loose as they come when it comes to the game, it’s competitive

It’s going to be more of the same as what we saw against Ottawa.” Patrick Marleau on Monday’s matchup against the Kings

and he wants to win. Makes the big plays at the right moment.”

In 12 career games against the Leafs, Doughty has nine points (two goals and seven assists).

Babcock wouldn’t confirm that Calle Rosen, who skated with Connor Carrick at practice, will be back in the lineup on the blue line after Andreas Borgman played the past two games.

And thought it appeared Dominic Moore, who played in Ottawa, will stay in the lineup ahead of Eric Fehr as the fourth-line centre, Babcock wouldn’t confirm that either.

Mitch Marner was back on the fourth line, while Leo Komarov was back with Nazem Kadri and Patrick Marleau.

What was Marleau’s scouting report on the Kings, a team he knows all too well from his days as a San Jose Shark?

“It’s going to be more of the same as what we saw against Ottawa,” Marleau said. “Pretty sound defensively and we’re going to have to right our wrongs against Ottawa to try to be successful.” tkoshan@postemedia.com