Oilers at Leafs: Preview
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their homestand tonight against the visiting Oilers, in a game that marks former Leafs’ coach Pat Quinn’s return to the Air Canada Centre.
The Oilers have had a disappointing season, to say the least, and are the leading contenders for the Hall/Seguin sweepstakes this summer. Edmonton fans are salivating at the thought of Taylor Hall one day lining up alongside Canadian Junior team hero Jordan Eberle, wearing copper and blue.
For the time being, however, the Oilers are a team in the midst of yet another rebuilding phase, a process with which Leafs’ fans can certainly relate. In many ways, the two teams are quite similar: inconsistent youth, underachieving veterans, untimely injuries and weak goaltending have plagued both rosters throughout the season. The Leafs look to have begun the process of righting the ship; the Oilers will look to make similar moves (purging of veteran contracts in favor of youthful exuberance) during the summer.
Game Notes
- Is it too early to refer to the Leafs as the Cardiac Kids? Four of their past five games have gone to overtime, resulting in three wins for the blue and white, including an absolute thriller Thursday night against Tampa Bay.
- Despite their struggles this season, and the losses of key players (Khabibulin, Souray, Hemsky) to injury, the Oilers still boast plenty of players who are capable of breaking out with a big game at any time. The Leafs can ill-afford to take the likes of skilled youngsters Gagner, Cogliano and Brule – the future of the Oilers – lightly.
- Dion Phaneuf is very familiar with the Oilers, from his days in the Calgary Flames organization, and has historically played quite well against them. The Oilers are a team comprised of smaller finesse players, and the key to shutting them down – which is also the key to Phaneuf’s past success versus Edmonton – is to get physical early and often.
- Just how similar are these two teams? Since the Olympic Break ended, the Leafs are 3-2-1 with 14 goals for and 18 against. The Oilers, meanwhile, have gone 2-3-1 in that span, with 14 goals for and 19 against.
Roster Notes
- Jonas Gustavsson gets the start for the Leafs tonight, and has looked very good in both his starts (both wins) since returning from his stint as the backup goaltender for the Swedish Olympic team.
- Jeff Deslauriers is expected to start for the Oilers tonight. Deslauriers has had his moments this season, but an inconsistent glove hand continues to be his nemesis. He does a terrific job taking away the lower portion of the net, however, so Leafs forwards may be well-advised to aim high whenever possible.
- Jeff Finger stays in the lineup for the Leafs tonight, while Garnet Exelby is a healthy scratch. Frederik Sjostrom remains on the injured list.
- Expected Leafs forward lines:
Kulemin – Bozak – Kessel
Stalberg – Grabovski – Caputi
Mitchell – Hanson – Wallin
Lundmark – Primeau – Orr - Expected Leafs defense pairings:
Beauchemin – Phaneuf
Kaberle – Schenn
Gunnarsson – Finger
Stats Pack
| EDM | TOR | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 21-39-7 (15th East) |
22-33-12 (15th East) |
| Home Record | 13-18-4 | 13-14-5 |
| Road Record | 8-21-3 | 9-19-7 |
| Goals For | 161 (29th) | 174 (22nd) |
| Goals Against | 225 (30th) | 223 (29th) |
| Powerplay % | 17.7 (20th) | 15.4 (t-28th) |
| Penalty Kill % | 76.9 (27th) | 72.1 (30th) |
| Scoring First | 15-10-3 | 13-5-4 |
| Leading After One | 9-1-2 | 9-5-1 |
| Trailing After One | 5-22-2 | 8-19-3 |
| Leading After Two | 12-2-2 | 15-2-2 |
| Trailing After Two | 4-29-2 | 0-28-7 |
| Overtime | 6-7 | 4-12 |
—
Broadcast Information
Game Time: 7 pm
Television: CBC
Radio: am640 Toronto, am900 CHML Hamilton
Online: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeynightincanada/idesk/
March 13th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Troy wrote:
I agree with you. They went out and tried to “cheat” the cap system (somewhat) by signing Zetterberg and Franzen to stupidly long contract so let them burnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Ahh cha cha chi chi chi chi chi chu chu chu chut!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
I just threw in some Tasty Taters, anybody want some?
March 13th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
kbart101 wrote:
I noticed him way up quite a bit during the game
March 13th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
DAMN! 4-2 NYI
March 13th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Troy wrote:
pricks
March 13th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Anyone have a link for the game online? I’m stuck in Minnesota…no CBC here.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
atdhe.net probably has it.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Wow, he better watch out or Phaneuf will kill him. What the fuck was the penalty for?
March 13th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Jeff wrote:
cbcsports.ca
March 13th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
whaaa.. Phaneuf tried to avoid the guy, some one better go after Peckham when his penalty is up.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Jeff wrote:
http://atdhe.net/14940/watch-edmonton-oilers-vs-toronto-maple-leafs
March 13th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Jordan wrote:
Phaneuf: 2 minutes for referee retardation
March 13th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
@ Jonez:
Better not turn on the TV, kessel has 2 points lol
March 13th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
@ Jordan:
I know eh? How the fuck does Dion get a penalty on that? Peckham should have the only one. I hope Colton gets his fuck on tonight.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Dion gets two for missing the hit, Cooke got nothing for attempted de-capitation.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Cactus wrote:
Ahhhhh, sorry
March 13th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I think Dion got 2 minutes for Looking so Good
March 13th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Cactus wrote:
again
March 13th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
2 Minutes for Looking so Guru wrote:
Gets his fuck on? Care to elaborate?
March 13th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Thanks 2 minutes! I got it. I had thought to look there first because I’ve seen guys post that on here before but apparently I’m dyslexic because I was trying adthe.net and getting nothing, LOL. Looks like I’ve missed a good game so far.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
I think they gave Dion 2 Minutes for Looking so Guru
March 13th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Troy wrote:
Thats being light about it. That was the worst hit I have seen in a long time
March 13th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Troy wrote:
lol that works too
March 13th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
@ Jordan:
Close between that and Richrads/Booth
March 13th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
@ Jeff:
LOL I did the same thing when I started using it. It’s great for sports betting haha
March 13th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Stalberg has been mixing it up the last couple of games. He’s getting grittier game by game.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
It’s been a long time that since I’ve seen a Leaf team stick up for each other as they are now.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Jordan wrote:
lol.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
leafscrazy22 wrote:
Colton Orr Smash Face!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
kbart101 wrote:
Schenn last season was great for that, but he seems to have lost a lot of that grit.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Why the fuck is Wallin out there for fuck sakes. He is like Hall Gill slow
March 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Wow, what a tip.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
WTF, same as the 2nd goal!!!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
That’s a hat trick of shite for Gus.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I hope the refs are done trying to even up the calls.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Fuck…maybe I shouldn’t have turned it on!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
why not interference there on our player going for the puck?
March 13th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Jeff wrote:
nice going…
March 13th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Jeff wrote:
turn it off quick
March 13th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Julie Sucks wrote:
How the fuck can you say that?
March 13th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
lonsmos2 wrote:
Too busy missing a hooking call when Kules got hauled down.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Julie Sucks wrote:
Jeez, I’m sick of having to defend Gustavsson around here. People try and dismantle every single goal, whether it was a good one or not.
How can you blame him for the first and third goals?? The second he 100% should have had, I admit, but the first was a Kessel-like snipe and the third was tipped by the guy alone in front.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
DJBrianBurke wrote:
Oh that was it…fuckin refs…
March 13th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
2 Minutes for Looking so Guru wrote:
That was a perfect tip: no chance on that goal.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
kbart101 wrote:
The second goal was tipped by a guy all alone in front of the net on a powerplay? Damn, I must be blind.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Gustavsson is still a rookie, though many people would like to believe he’s supposed to be Superman already. He hasn’t been too bad and should only improve from here. Hell, if he doesn’t have an amazing season, it just makes it easier for us to resign him to a reasonable amount this summer!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
10mins left in 3rd,leafs go on pp…maybe i should smoke a power play myself…help them out
March 13th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Ya Im always there to rip on gustavsson when its deserved but the 1st and 3rd goals were not his fault
March 13th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Jeff wrote:
If EDM comes back and wins, it’s your fault!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
I still don’t like Kessell on that side on the half boards on the PP, seems like a real waste of his talents