After a successful three-game road trip in which they won two out of three, the Toronto Maple Leafs return home for an original six battle with the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday.
This is the second of six meetings between the Northeast Division rivals this season. The Bruins took the first game with a 6-2 victory in Boston on Oct. 20 to give the Leafs their first regulation loss of the season.
The Leafs are off to a great start with a record of 9-3-1 which places them first overall in the league. The last time the Leafs were 9-3-1 was in November of the 1999-2000 season. That was also the last time that Toronto was ranked first overall on Nov. 5.
Saturday's game marks another chance for Phil Kessel, the league-leader in goals (10) and points (21) to add to his totals against his former team. The 24-year old was held without a point in his first game against the Bruins this season, and has only been held gone pointless in two of Toronto's 13 games. Kessel has a point in all six of the Leafs' home games, registering eight goals and six assists at the ACC.
Head coach Ron Wilson is expected to make a few lineup changes, the most notable of which is putting Cody Franson into the lineup and making Luke Schenn a healthy scratch. Schenn had just 9:13 of ice-time in Thursday's win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the lowest on the team, and has struggled at times this season.
Franson's insertion into the lineup will mark just the fourth game played this season for the former Nashville Predators blue liner. Franson has one assist and a plus/minus rating of minus-four. He is expected to play on the third defensive pairing with rookie Jake Gardiner.
The Leafs are also expected make a change up front, as Jay Rosehill will replace Philippe Dupuis on the fourth line.
The big news is that after an impressive performance against Columbus in which he stopped 38 shots to pick up his first career victory and first star of the game honours, Ben Scrivens will get the start in net against the Bruins.
With James Reimer out for the foreseeable future with an upper-body injury, Wilson said he was going with a 'gut feeling' by giving Scrivens the start and his first chance to play back-to-back games in the NHL.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
Joffrey Lupul - Tim Connolly - Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Matthew Lombardi - Tyler Bozak - Joey Crabb
Jay Rosehill - David Steckel - Mike Brown
Defencemen
Carl Gunnarsson - Dion Phaneuf
John-Michael Liles - Mike Komisarek
Jake Gardiner - Cody Franson
Goalies
Ben Scrivens
Jonas Gustavsson
The Boston Bruins visit the Air Canada Centre looking for another win over a Canadian team, coming off a 5-3 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
The win in Ottawa was just the fourth of the season for the Bruins in 11 games played. Consistency has been a concern for the defending Stanley Cup champions as Boston has yet to win consecutive games this season.
A lack of success on the power play can be attributed to Boston's struggles as of late, with the team going 1-3-0 in their last four games. During that stretch, the Bruins went just 2-for-17 on the power play. When away from TD Garden, Boston's play on the man advantage has been futile, going 0-for-10 in three road games. The Bruins' power play ranks 25th overall in the league with a success rate of just 13 percent, which is good news for the Leafs and their league-worst penalty kill.
One player who has been contributing for the Bruins this season is 2010 second overall pick, Tyler Seguin. The Brampton, Ontario native has a point in four of Boston's last five games, registering three goals and three assists during that stretch. Seguin has four goals and is tied with Milan Lucic for the team lead. He also leads the team in assists (7) and points (11).
In his first game against the Leafs this season, Seguin had a goal and two assists. In seven career games versus Toronto, the 19-year old has two goals and three assists and has a plus/minus rating of two.
Tim Thomas is expected to make his ninth start of the season as he gets the nod in Toronto. Thomas stopped 23 shots in Tuesday's 5-3 victory over the Sens to improve his record to 4-4-0 this season with a 2.25 goals-against and a .924 save percentage.
In 28 career games against the Leafs, the 37-year old netminder is 16-6-5 while posting a 2.88 GAA and a .909 save percentage with two shutouts.
Boston Bruins Projected Lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin
Jordan Caron - Chris Kelly - Rich Peverley
Dan Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton
Defencemen
Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg - Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Bruins vs. Leafs gets underway at 7PM ET. The game will be broadcast on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, NESN and AM640.
For up-to-the-minute Leafs news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett
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