Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will try and make it 3 wins in a row as they host the Minnesota Wild. Toronto is just 6 points out of a playoff position with 2 games on hand. A win tonight would add to their current point streak of 11 points in their last 7 games.
Jonas Gustavsson gets the nod for tonight as Ron Wilson is following the code of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
“It’s strictly, if you win and you’re playing well, you get back in,” said Wilson after yesterday’s practice. “It’s exactly what you want. There’s no controversy here or anything like that. (Gustavsson) is playing well. Sure, Vesa wants to play but this kid, he deserves the shot to play and we’re playing well in front of him. We’ll keep it going until I need to make another change.
Gustavsson is coming off an incredible performance on Saturday. He shut down the Red Wings, made dramatic key saves at important times and nearly earned himself his first shutout as a Maple Leaf.
“(Saturday) must be our best game so far,” rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson said. “The ‘D’ helped me a lot and the forwards scored some goals. Perfect.”
The Leafs are also expecting Mike Komisarek to suit up today. The rugged defenseman took yesterday off to nurse his ailing tailbone, but is not expected to miss any action.
There is still no word if Garnett Exelby will replace Jeff Finger in the lineup tonight, but after a solid outing on Saturday night in which he tallied 2 points, including a shorthanded goal, it’s difficult to imagine the Leafs continuing without Finger on the bench.
Phil Kessel will also be looking to continue his current point streak. The American Sniper has 3 points in his 3 games as a member of the Maple Leafs and looks to continue his strong performance on the team’s powerplay and top line.
It was a miserable start to the season, but every Leaf fan is pleased with the overall team performance over the last two weeks. Should the Leafs lose tonight to the Wild – who currently own the worst record in the Western Conference – it would be taking a step backwards for Toronto. That said, the Wild should not be taken lightly as they are 5-5-0 in their last ten and sport a solid 85.0% penalty kill.
Team Comparison:
Powerplay: TOR 1st (26.6%), MIN 21st (18.3%)
Penalty Kill: TOR 30th (73.0%), MIN 4th (85.0%)
Faceoff % – TOR 22nd (48.6%), MIN 3rd (52.6%)
Average Shots For: TOR 5th (32.7), MIN 25th (28.1)
Average Shots Against: TOR 19th (30.9), MIN 6th (27.6)
Average Goals For: TOR 20th (2.60), MIN 28th (2.19)
Average Goals Against: TOR 29th (3.60), MIN 22nd (3.06)
5 on 5 Goals For/Against Ratio: TOR 27th (0.68), MIN 29th (0.61)
Other Articles:
Fight of the Week – Janssen vs. Asham
Glencross Suspended 3 Game for Hit on Drury – Video
Couture Ready for UFC105 Bout
Frank Mir Wants to End Lesnar’s Career
Micheal A. Aldred
michealaldred@mapleleafshotstove.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
@ Tim: Last Saturday, I predicted a 3-2 win and it started to look possible in the 3rd. But prior to the game, I was thinking the team could really use a blowout to ease the stress and tension these guys must be feeling at times. That’s not easy against Detroit, but 5-1 in the 3rd let them relax a bit. I wouldn’t call that game a blowout. The next day I wondered if they might have a letdown in their next game and come out flat. What do you think?
November 10th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
We cant tie up money getting JSG, we need to sign Gustuvsson longterm , give him whatever he wants and get a cheap back up!!!!!
November 10th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Live stream of tonights game on now…
http://www.ndsportstalk.com/sopcast3.html
November 10th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
[...] must be logged in to post a [...]
November 10th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
The great difficulty in education is to get sale ugg brailey button experience out of ideas. The greatest ugg classic cardy lesson in ugg knightsbridge life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. To make good ugg nightfall use of life one should have in youth the sale ugg classic experience of advanced years, and in old age the vigor of youth.