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HOME PITT-STOP FOR ROAD WEARY LEAFS |
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With a four-game road swing behind them, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome a return to the friendly confines of the Air Canada Centre tonight as they take on the Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins before embarking on another three-game road trip week. The Leafs went 2-2 with road victories in Montréal and New York and losses to Boston and Philadelphia and are third in the Conference with 13 points(6-2-1).
The Penguins lead the NHL with 18 points(8-2-2), a remarkable feat when you consider that they have played all year without Sidney Crosby and have only had Evgeni Malkin for half of their games. Malkin will be in the lineup tonight and has always a great time playing against Toronto, but Crosby is still a few weeks away from seeing game action. Pittsburgh will also be missing forwards Tyler Kennedy(concussion) and Jordan Staal, who will not play due to a lower body injury.
Tonight's matchup features the leagues two highest goal scorers; Toronto's Phil Kessel and Pittsburgh's James Neal, who both have nine goals this season.
Jonas Gustavsson will make the start for Toronto, in place of injured goaltender James Reimer. The 27-year-old Swede’s play in the last four games has been spotty, playing impressively at times and then allowing soft goals. Reimer participated in Leafs practice this morning and is scheduled to come off the injured reserve list tomorrow, which could mean that he will start in the Ottawa on Sunday night.
The Leafs were able to weather a blistering Rangers attack on Thursday night, benefiting from two calls of goaltender interference to keep the score at only 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Their performance in the final 40 minutes was nearly perfect, tying the game on Matthew Lombardi's goal early in the second and scoring three goals in the final period to take control of the game. Joffrey Lupul gave Toronto the lead, Clarke MacArthur scored his first goal of the season on a blast past New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and Mike Brown added a late goal to give the club a comfortable lead.
Toronto was able to plug up the neutral zone, not allowing New York to mount an offensive attack with speed and limited them to only seven shots on Gustavsson until the late
stages of the third.
With the exception of injured winger Colby Armstrong and Reimer, the Leafs had their most complete lineup available to them, with Tim Connolly getting into the lineup for the first time. Connolly showed a bit of rust in the early going but adjusted quickly to linemates Kessel and Lupul.
The Grabovski-Kulemin-MacArthur line played effectively, with MacArthur finally being able to break a seven-game scoreless streak. The combination of Matt Frattin-Tyler Bozak-Matthew Lombardi displayed ample speed and defensive responsibility and the fourth line of Philippe Dupuis-David Steckel-Mike Brown provided a fourth line with size, grit, face-off winning ability that allowed them to play a regular shift and not be a liability.
Brent Johnson starts in goal for Pittsburgh
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Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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