About the Maple Leafs - 10-29-11
A preview of the Maple Leafs.
When and where: 7 p.m., EDT; Air Canada Centre.
TV: Root Sports, CBC.
Record: 6-2-1, 13 points. The Maple Leafs are in third place in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Phil Kessel (right), 16 points (9 goals, 7 assists).
Last Game: 4-2 road win against the Rangers, Thursday. Jonas Gustavsson made 28 saves for the Maple Leafs.
Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 overtime home win, March 2. Matt Niskanen had a goal and an assist for the Penguins.
Maple Leafs Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Clarke MacArthur. He has six points in his past six games against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Maple Leafs: Colby Armstrong, RW.
Ex-Maple Leafs on the Penguins: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Steve Sullivan, LW.
Useless Maple Leafs Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The last Maple Leafs player to score a goal in an All-Star Game was former Penguins forward Gary Roberts in 2004.
Best Maple Leafs Video We Could Find: Former Maple Leafs captain Wendell Clark blowing up former Blues goaltender Curtis Joseph's lid:
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Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (1-0-2, 1.92 GAA, .925 SV%) for the Penguins and Jonas Gustavsson (2-2-0, 4.08 GAA, .876 SV%) for the Maple Leafs.
Injuries: For the Penguins, defenseman Zbynek Michalek (finger) and center Jordan Staal ("lower-body") are out. Centers Sidney Crosby (concussion), Tyler Kennedy (concussion), defensemen Brian Strait (elbow) and Boris Valabik (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Maple Leafs, right winger Colby Armstrong (ankle) and goaltender James Reimer (head/neck) are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings at today's morning skate are (PG+):
Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Richard Park - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Mark Letesu - Arron Asham
Dustin Jeffrey - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
Paul Martin - Kris Letang
Brooks Orpik - Deryk Engelland
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
-The Maple Leafs primary lines and defensive pairings against the Rangers Thursday were:
Joffrey Lupul - Tim Connolly - Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Matthew Lombardi - Tyler Bozak - Matt Frattin
Philippe Dupuis - David Steckel - Mike Brown
Carl Gunnarsson - Dion Phaneuf
Jake Gardiner - Luke Schenn
John-Michael Liles - Mike Komisarek
Notes:
-Staal did not travel to Toronto.
-The league's top two goal-scorers - Neal and Kessel - square off tonight.
-Neal recorded his only career hat trick against the Maple Leafs as a member of the Stars in an 8-2 win, Dec. 23, 2008.
-"I think he's surprising a lot of people, but I'm not so sure it's a surprise to him." - Dan Bylsma on Niskanen.
-Cooke has 98 career points with the Penguins.
-Neal has 147 career points.
-Kunitz has 296 career points.
-Park has 97 career goals.
-Kessel left practice early yesterday because he was "banged up."
-Our live blog begins today at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)