Gavin McKenna didn't back down from Auston Matthews at Maple Leafs practice, and the battle along the boards got physical in a hurry.
The sequence surfaced heading into tonight's game in Vegas, the first stop of a three-game road trip for Toronto.
The clip shows two white practice jerseys locked together in the corner, one pressed hard into the glass while the other drives in from behind with his stick down.
Neither one gives an inch. It looks a lot more like a playoff shift than a routine practice drill.
Easton Cowan, meanwhile, was spotted just watching along the boards, which might be the smartest decision anyone made all session.
It's the driveway game where the little brother finally gets big enough to push back, and the older one has to start taking him seriously.
The gap on paper is massive. Matthews carries a $13,250,000 cap hit, while the teenager is on a $1,075,000 deal.
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Leafs practice erupts as Gavin McKenna refuses to give Auston Matthews an inch
The bigger lineup story might belong to the kid by the boards. Cowan is projected to join John Tavares and William Nylander tonight.
He's earned the look with 3 points, including a power-play goal and a game-winner, all at 21 years old.
McKenna gets a different assignment. He's slated to skate with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons, the third line on the projected sheet.
That's the wrong spot for him, plain and simple. Those two have one point apiece, and Paul sits at a -4 rating.
A forward who can hang with Matthews in a corner deserves linemates who can do something with the puck once he wins it.
The 18-year-old has a goal and an assist through 4 games, along with a -2 rating that won't win him any arguments yet.
Matthews, for his part, centers Kirill Marchenko and Jack Roslovic up top. He has 5 points so far, one of them a game-winner.
Toronto went 2-2-0 on home ice to open the season, scoring and allowing 11 goals.
Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start in goal tonight, still looking for his first win of the season.
And Vegas won't offer much relief. The home side has piled up 17 goals in a 3-1-0 start.
So does one practice battle move the needle with Jim Hiller? Not on its own.
But if McKenna brings that same edge into the corners tonight, the line with Paul and Sissons might not stay together for long.
Is Gavin McKenna wasted on a line with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons?
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