Crosby offers advice for Matthews ahead of the Leafs' home opener

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Sidney Crosby's advice to Auston Matthews: Don't change anything.

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Crosby, one of the greatest captains in National Hockey League history, was asked Saturday morning what he thinks will make Matthews successful as captain of the Maple Leafs in a hockey market as intense as Toronto.

“I think it's just important to be yourself,” Crosby said hours before the Pittsburgh Penguins and Leafs met in Toronto's home opener at Scotiabank Arena. “Everything is getting a lot bigger here. As a captain you are always under pressure, but here I think you just have to be yourself. There will be many experiences to learn from.

“No matter how long you’ve been doing it or where you are, you’re always learning. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

Matthews' ability to do just that, along with his obvious hockey skills and intelligence, was a factor in the Leafs' decision to name him captain in August, and it helped that John Tavares took the move well.

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Matthews will have something else on his mind Saturday night after the Leafs opened the season with a win and a loss on the road. Neither he nor Mitch Marner nor William Nylander scored a point in the Leafs' loss in Montreal and win in New Jersey.

“I thought those two games were really good (from a team standpoint),” Matthews said. “We tested well, didn’t give up much and created chances.

“Those chances will go down and up as we build more and more chemistry, get more used to the way we want to play and on a more consistent basis.

“I think we are happy with where we are now.”

Coach Craig Berube said of the zeros next to the stars' names: “Opportunities were there. Hit a few posts, missed the net a little, not clean enough at times. But overall I'm happy with the effort. You work and do the right things, the goal will come.”

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A power play goal would be nice too. The Leafs are 0-6 and begin the season with a man advantage.

Whether Tavares is a fit for the Leafs remains to be seen. The former captain missed the morning skate due to illness, although Berube said “there's a chance” Tavares will play tonight.

Max Pacioretty took Tavares' place on the top power play unit during the morning skate.

Joseph Woll, on the other hand, sticks with it day after day as he recovers from lower body stiffness. Berube said the goaltender has not been on the ice in recent days.

With the Leafs only playing once in the next six days after the Penguins game – at home against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday – Woll will have plenty of time to get his physical health in order.

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Anthony Stolarz is expected to start in goal for Toronto.

For Pittsburgh, coach Mike Sullivan is relying on rookie Joel Blomqvist, who made 29 saves in his NHL debut in Detroit's 6-3 win over the Red Wings on Thursday. Forward Bryan Rust (lower body) will be a game decision.

Opening towels were already draped over every seat at Scotiabank Arena for the morning skate. In the Toronto franchise's previous 106 home opening games, the record is 53-35-15-3.

“It’s always fun,” Matthews said. “The atmosphere will be good. Everyone always looks forward to it.”

With Tavares absent, the Leafs lined up as follows for the morning skate:

FORWARD

LW-C-RW

Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner

Bobby McMann-Pontus Holmberg-William Nylander

Max Pacioretty-Max Domi-Nick Robertson

Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves

DEFENSE

Morgan Rielly-Chris Tanev

Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Jake McCabe

Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins

GOALKEEPER

Anthony Stolarz

Dennis Hildeby

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X: @koshtorontosun

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