The Maple Leafs held an off-ice workout and optional practice at Ford Performance Centre on Thursday.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have lost all six winner-take-all games they've played in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

One of the Leafs superstars will experience what it's like to come out on top in that environment on Thursday night in Boston as Matthews leads the United States into the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game against Marner's Canada.

"There's a lot of things involved in these games," said Leafs coach Craig Berube. "A lot of pride for your country, obviously, a lot of emotion. These games are intense and playing in a game like this, being in this situation, is very good for them both. Only one of them is going to win, but it's just getting a taste of what it's like."

Matthews, who is the captain of Team USA, told reporters in Boston that this game is "definitely at the top of the list" when it comes to the biggest in his career. Marner struggled to think of a comparable.

"Maybe the closest would be World Juniors when we played Finland in Finland in the quarter-finals but, I mean, that was quarter-finals," Marner told reporters in Boston.

Marner scored twice in Canada's 6-5 loss in Helsinki at the 2016 World Juniors.

"Obviously this is a different animal," he acknowledged.

Matthews and Marner will have to earn everything they get on Thursday night.

"Every play matters, every shift matters, and it's tight," said Berube, who guided the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup title in 2019. "There's not a lot of room out there. You've got to work for your room, and you've got to work for everything you want to get out of the game. You've got to work for it. It's a highly competitive game."

Matthews is expected to start the game on Team USA's second line with Jake Guentzel and Jack Hughes.

"These are the games you dream of," Matthews said. "Obviously, it's a big game," Marner said. "It's been a long time since best-on-best has been played, like we've talked about, so, yeah, it's going to be a cool moment. It's going to be a lot of people watching. It's good to have support."

Matthews has yet to score in two games at the event. He's also gone six straight games without a goal with the Leafs. You have to go back to his rookie season in the NHL to find an eight-game goalless drought.

But Matthews has been praised consistently by USA coach Mike Sullivan for leading the way with a quiet confidence. That's consistent........

© TSN