It looks like James Reimer will play his second game in as many nights as Jonathan Bernier appears to be unavailable due to injury or illness.
In other injury news, Cody Franson is banged up and is considered a gametime decision, with Petter Granberg at the ready if he can’t go. Hopefully this setback is nothing serious because the timing could not be worse with the deadline approaching.
There is an alarming lack of professional pride kicking in with this Leafs team at the moment; Reimer said they needed to man up after the loss in New Jersey last night and Peter Horachek called the team’s effort “soft.” Pretty damning stuff.
From many fans’ perspective, the damage has been done already and the worse it gets from here on out the better. Edmonton is a must-lose as far as the McEichel sweepstakes go. This particular tweet aptly sums up the current mindset of the respective fanbases:
To save everybody some time, I’ve invented this jersey to throw onto the ice tonight. pic.twitter.com/pVIy69dZXJ
— Earl Sleek (@earlsleek) February 7, 2015
Edmonton Oilers Projected Lineup
Teddy Purcell – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Nail Yakupov – Derek Roy – Matt Fraser
Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer
Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Liro Pakarinen
Jeff Petry – Andrew Ference
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Keith Aulie – Mark Fayne
Ben Scrivens
Viktor Fasth
Scratched: None
Injured: Tyler Pitlick (lacerated spleen), Taylor Hall (leg), Benoit Pouliot (leg), Nikita Nikitin (shoulder)
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Joffrey Lupul – Mike Santorelli – Daniel Winnik
David Booth – Nazem Kadri – Richard Panik
Leo Komarov – Peter Holland – David Clarkson
Morgan Rielly – Cody Franson*
Korbinian Holzer – Stephane Robidas
Jake Gardiner – Roman Polak
James Reimer
Antoine Bibeau
Scratched: Josh Leivo, Trevor Smith, Petter Granberg
Injured: Dion Phaneuf (hand)
Status report: Granberg was recalled from Toronto of the American Hockey League on Saturday. Coach Peter Horachek said there is a possibility Granberg will dress for the game if one of the regular defenseman is unable to perform because of injury (Franson).
Who’s hot: Eberle has three goals and four points in his past three games. … Bozak scored Toronto’s goal in its loss to the Devils on Friday.