Leafs wary of young Habs with point to prove

SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The Maple Leafs and Canadiens skated at the Bell Centre on Wednesday. 

The Leafs will look to exploit a Canadiens defence with four rookies, including two players – Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj – who are making their NHL debuts. 

"The young guys are always hungry to try and prove a point, especially these guys," warned winger Mitch Marner. "These guys have a lot of Canadian guys on their roster. In Canada, Toronto is always a team that gets talked about a lot. Everyone is always excited to show [off] against us and prove a point."

"Watching them in pre-season, they're flying around," said 39-year-old defenceman Mark Giordano, who has played in more NHL games than the entire Montreal defence combined. "That's the way the league is now. It's a young man's game, so we have to be aware." 

Mark Giordano has more games of NHL experience than the cumulative total the #habs d-corps brings in to tonight's game vs. #leafs: 1,024-932 https://t.co/0bmmN6zUYZ

Guhle, a 20-year-old from Edmonton, projects to play on the top pair opposite David Savard while Xhekaj, a 21-year-old from Hamilton, Ont., is slated to start beside Chris Wideman on the second pair. 

The Leafs finished second in goals per game last season (3.8). Toronto's attack features the reigning Hart Trophy winner in Auston Matthews and Marner, who racked up 97 points last season.  

"We've played against those guys a couple times in the pre-season, so it's good to get those jitters out of the way when you see those guys coming down on you," Guhle told reporters. "I think we're comfortable playing against those guys."

"I've been pretty calm," said Xhekaj. "I think it's more my parents who are nervous and pinching themselves and