About the Maple Leafs - 02-26-11
A preview of the Maple Leafs.
When and where: 7 p.m., Air Canada Centre.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, CBC, NHL Network (United States).
Record: 27-27-7, 61 points. The Maple Leafs are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Clarke MacArthur, 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists).
Last Game: 5-4 road win against the Canadiens, Thursday. Phil Kessel (right) had two goals and two assists for the Maple Leafs.
Last Game against the Penguins: 5-2 road loss, Dec. 8, 2010. Sidney Crosby and Mark Letestu each had two goals for the Penguins.
Maple Leafs Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Kessel. He has points in six of his last eight games.
Ex-Penguins on the Maple Leafs: Colby Armstrong, RW; Tim Brent, C.
Ex-Maple Leafs on the Penguins: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager.
Useless Maple Leafs Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The last Maple Leafs player to score a goal in an all-star game is former Penguins forward Gary Roberts. He had a goal and an assist in the 2004 game.
Best Maple Leafs Video We Could Find: Former Maple Leafs captain Doug Gilmour's hair just has to look great:
{youtube width="480" height="390"}H4ZuB-83jxg{/youtube}
Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (27-16-4, 2.31 GAA, .920 SV%) for the Penguins and James Reimer (10-4-2, 2.24 GAA, .931 SV%) for the Maple Leafs.
Injuries: For the Penguins, defenseman Paul Martin ("upper body") is day to day. Forwards Arron Asham (concussion), Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion), Chris Kunitz ("lower body"), Mark Letestu (knee), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Eric Tangradi (concussion) and defenseman Brooks Orpik (finger) are on injured reserve. For the Maple Leafs, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere ("lower body") is day to day. Forward Colton Orr (concussion) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Hurricanes last night were:
James Neal - Jordan Staal - Alex Kovalev
Matt Cooke - Maxime Talbot - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Chris Conner - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
Kris Letang - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
Brian Strait - Deryk Engelland
-The Maple Leafs' primary lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:
Clake MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Mike Brown - Darryl Boyce - Colby Armstrong
Fredrik Sjostrom - Tim Brent - Joey Crabb/Jay Rosehill
Keith Aulie - Dion Phaneuf
Luke Schenn - Carl Gunnarsson
Mike Komisarek - Brett Lebda
Notes:
-Eric Godard is serving a suspension.
-According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, Niskanen will not be disciplined for a high hit to Carolina captain Eric Staal last night.
-It's back to Wilkes-barre/Scranton for Brett Sterling.
-Michalek has 99 career points.
-Kovalev has 347 career points with the Penguins.
-Cooke has 297 career points.
-Television Heads-Up: Don't forget tonight's game is on NHL Network in the United States. If you are a Center Ice or Game Center Live customer and you are located outside of the Pittsburgh market, please make sure you have NHL Network or make alternate plans to watch it.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)