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The struggling New Jersey Devils are in Toronto
to take on the warm-getting-warmer Maple Leafs.

[quote_box_right]“They’re playing with confidence, a lot of speed, a lot of depth. I think they’ve won four or five in a row,” DeBoer noted. “But it wasn’t that long ago that they were sitting where we are, lacking some wins and second-guessing themselves. “I think they’re a good example of how quickly this can turn around once you get it going the other way. – Devils Head Coach, Peter DeBoer”[/quote_box_right]

The key for the Maple Leafs in this game will be avoiding falling into the trap of playing down to a slumping Devils team (3-9-2 in last 14) missing Jaromir Jagr, Adam Larsson, Travis Zajac and maybe Patrick Elias (game time decision) from their lineup.

Toronto has two points very available tonight; everything is going wrong with the Devils right now from questionable coaching/personnel decisions (Gomez playing at 1C), to an old bad roster (Gomez playing at 1C), injuries, a bad penalty kill, and some of their better players underperforming. The Devils are scoring just 1.8 goals per game this season and their only real threats among those playing tonight are Mike Cammalleri, who has 10 goals this season, and Adam Henrique, who has 14 points in 18 games. The pair has combined to produce nearly 30% of New jersey’s total goals for this season.

The NHL is too tight and with too much parity to ever take a team lightly, however. The Leafs learned that lesson loud and clear when they got trounced by the Sabres 6-2 not too long ago: They are not a good enough team to take any opponent lightly. New Jersey in particular can choke the life out of a game with a strong trap, as we’ve seen over the past 20 years; they’ve maintained the same style of play—more or less—throughout the modern era.

As of now it doesn’t look like Leo Komarov will return to the lineup tonight, so the lines from the win over the Stars will remain in tact. Jonathan Bernier will look to keep the ball rolling in net.

[pull_quote_center]”The coach is coaching. He’s here because you believe in what he’s doing. If you didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be here. So, I think that answers the question.” – Lou Lamoriello [/pull_quote_center]

Toronto Maple Leafs vs New Jersey Devils - Head to Head

Head to Head:Maple LeafsDevils
Record13-8-3 (.604% - 14th)9-12-4 (.440 - 25th)
Goal Differential+9-14
PP20.6 (13th)19.5% (15th)
PK84.5 % (8th)75.3% (27th)
GF/G3.38 (2nd)2.28 (25th)
GA/G2.96 (23rd)2.76 (20th)
SF/G30.5(13th)26.5 (29th)
SA/G33.1 (27th)30.3 (18th)
5v5 SF/G29.1 (16th)26.7 (27th)
5v5 SA/G32.0 (26th)28.7 (17th)
5v5 CF%47.0% (27th) 50.8 (15th)
5v5 FF%47.7% (25th)49.0% (22nd)
5v5 Sh%9.61% (3rd)7.36% (19th)
5v5 Sv%91.61% (20th)93.14% (8th)
FO%51.1% (12th)47.5% (26th)
PP=Power Play %
PK=Penalty Kill %
GF/G=Goals for per game
GA/G=Goals against per game
SF/G=Shots for per game
SA/G=Shots against per game
Sh%=Shooting %
Sv%=Save percentage
F0%=Faceoff percentage
CF%=Corsi for % (shot attempts: shots, blocked shots, missed shots)
FF%=Fenwick for% (shots+missed shots)

Toronto Maple Leafs

Forwards
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
(10g-10a-20pts) – (11g-11a-22pts) – (12g-14a-25pts) (33g TOT)
Joffrey Lupul – Nazem Kadri – Mike Santorelli
(5g-2a-7pts) – (6g-8a-14pts) – (3g-13a-16pts) (14g TOT)
Richard Panik – Peter Holland – David Clarkson
(4g-1a-5pts) – (5g-4a-9pts) – (7g-1a-8pts) (16gs TOT)
Daniel Winnik – Trevor Smith – David Booth
(1g-8a-8pts) – (0g-1a-1pts) – (0g-0a-0pts) (1g TOT)

Defence
Cody Franson – Dion Phaneuf
(4g-11a-15pts) – (1g-10a-11pts) (6g TOT)
Morgan Rielly – Stephane Robidas
(3g-6a-9pts) – (0g-3a-3pts) (3g TOT)
Jake Gardiner – Korbinian Holzer
(1g-5a-6pts) – (0g-0a-0pts) (1g TOT)

Goal
Jonathan Bernier
(8W-5L-2.59GAA-.917sv.%)

New Jersey Devils

Forwards
Patrik Elias* – Scott Gomez- Jaromir Jagr*
(2g-9a-11pts) – (0g-0a-0pts) – (4g-11a-15pts)
Michael Cammalleri – Adam Henrique – Damien Brunner
(10g-4a-14pts) – (6g-8a-14pts) – (2g-4a-6pts)
Tuomo Ruutu – Jacob Josefson – Steve Bernier
(5g-1a-6pts) – (1g-1a-2pts) – (1g-2a-3pts)
Jordin Tootoo – Stephen Gionta – Dainius Zubrus
(1g-0a-1pts) – (0g-3a-3pts) – (2g-0a-2pts)

Defence
Andy Greene – Damon Severson
(0g-7a-7pts) – (4g-6a-10pts)
Peter Harrold – Marek Zidlicky
(1g-0a-1pts) – (3g-9a-12pts)
Adam Larsson – Eric Gelinas
(1g-3a-4pts) – (2g-5a-7pts)

Goal
Cory Schneider
(8W-5L-2.59GAA-.917sv.%)

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