The Bruins are in Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs tonight. This will be the Bruins' first game in almost week. The team has been off since Sunday when they beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on home ice. The Leafs are looking to bounce back from a 5-3 loss to Buffalo last night.
Just who are these Maple Leafs you speak of?
Toronto Maple Leafs 31-31-13 (75 pts); 5th in Northeast, 11th in East
Leading Goal Scorers
Goaltending
Guys Who Like to Drop the Gloves
Jamal Mayers: 11 Fighting Majors
Andre Deveaux: 9 Fighting Majors
'08-'09 Season Series
Bruins record vs. Toronto: 4-1-0
Injury Report
Boston
Marco Sturm: Out for Season (knee)
Phil Kessel: Out (undisclosed)
Also Injured: Vesa Toskala (out for season; groin), Tomas Kaberle (questionable, hand), Erik Reitz (ankle), Mike Van Ryn (out for season, knee), Jonas Frogren (likely out for season, sprained MCL)
Projected Lines (according to NESN.com):
| Toronto | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Stempniak | John Mitchell | Jason Blake | |
| Alexei Ponikarovsky | Mikhail Grabovski | Nikolai Kulmemin | |
| Jeff Hamilton | Matt Stajan | Boyd Devereaux | |
| Brad May | Jamal Mayers | Ben Ondrus | |
| Jeff Finger | Luke Schenn | ||
| Ian White | Phil Oreskovic | ||
| Pavel Kubina | Anton Stralman | ||
Notes:
- The Toronto Star is reporting that call-up Justin Pogge will get the start in goal for the Leafs. Starter Martin Gerber is still serving a 3-game suspension resulting from making contact with an official while protesting a call during a game against Washington last week.
- Phil Kessel (undisclosed injury) did not make the trip with the team. Blake Wheeler took his spot on the top line in practice yesterday, skating on the right wing along side Marc Savard and P.J. Axelsson.
- For those of you north of the border, tonight's game will be on Hockey Night in Canada.
- The Leafs have signed defenseman Jay Harrison from the Swiss Elite league. He is expected to join the team today. No word on if he will play tonight.
- The Bruins are 7-2-2 this season when playing on more than 3 days rest.
- Game starts at 7:00. Public Skate (open thread) starts at 6:00.
- For more on the Leafs, check out Pension Plan Puppets, who got screwed over by the selection committee for the Best Sports Blog Name Tournament. That was a huge oversight.
Today's Obligatory Embarrassing YouTube Fan Video