Plekanec steps up for Leafs

Forward Tomas Plekanec was waiting for a chance to show Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock he was more than just a depth guy. He picked the right moment to prove himself.

Looking to avoid an 0-3 series deficit against Boston, Plekanec had his best outing as a Leaf on Monday in Toronto’s Game 3 victory over the Bruins, much to Babcock’s satisfaction.

He played 17:58 - the most ice time he’s had in 20 games with the Toronto since being acquired from Montreal at the trade deadline - in a top-six role alongside Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau.

He hit the scoresheet with an assist on Marleau’s third-period goal to seal the 4-2 win, but more importantly won the matchup against Boston’s top line by keeping it off the scoresheet for the first time in the series.

“Yeah, I felt better. Every player says that when you’re in the game more you feel much better about yourself, you’re more confident, and the key to that as at the beginning of the game we had a good couple shifts, gets you going, and you can shake off that rust from previous games,” said Plekanec.

“And I felt personally very good physically, which I wasn’t really sure about after a long time not playing a lot of minutes. I felt very good.”

Plekanec had been used to playing a significant role with Montreal for the majority of his 11-year career, and having to adapt to a lesser one with Toronto has come with some challenges.

With centre Nazem Kadri serving the second of his three-game suspension on Monday and Toronto having last change with home-ice advantage, Babcock felt the need to move Plekanec up in the lineup with the hope of maximizing what he could get out of the veteran centre.

“He played his best game since he’s been here, maybe just the fact he maybe didn’t feel as important as he should have when he got here affected his play, but I thought he was really good and a huge factor in our win,” said Babcock.