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Home Sweet Home??; Leafs Vs Flyers

February 11, 2013, 1:14 PM ET [1317 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
For the last six days, not much has gone wrong for the Maple Leafs. The three game sweep of Washington Winnipeg and Montreal has improved their record on the road to 6-1-0, Phil Kessel’s scoring drought has finally ended with goals in consecutive games, they’ve received dependable goaltending from Ben Scrivens and James Reimer, solid defensive play from a blueline made up of three ex-Toronto Marlies and have begun showing the pugnacity, belligerence and team toughness that was expected under former GM Brian Burke’s regime.

Now comes their greatest challenge; winning at home.

For all the success the Blue and White have achieved as visitors, they have encountered an equal amount of failure at the Air Canada Center, where they are tied for the league’s worst home record at 1-4-0 and have scored only nine goals in five games.

The Philadelphia Flyers have struggled away from the City of Brotherly Love, losing five of their six road games this season, but have long been a thorn in the side of the Blue and White at the ACC, where they have won the five games in a row.

The game marks the return of Luke Schenn to Toronto, who was traded on the second day of the NHL Draft in late June for winger James van Riemsdyk. The trade appears to be agreeing with both clubs, as Schenn has been united with younger brother Brayden and is second in the league in hits(behind Leo Komarov) and van Riemsdyk currently leads the Leafs with seven goals.

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle has chosen not to tinker with the lineup that was victorious in Montreal, as James Reimer makes his third straight start. Reimer was solid in a 37 save performance on Saturday and has a sparkling 2.30 GAA and .929 save percentage in nine games.

For Toronto to have the success they should at home, they must have better play from their special teams, which overall are in the bottom third of the league, but statistically are much worse at home. The Leafs power play has only scored two goals in 28 chances(7.1%), while the penalty killing has allowed four goals in just 14 short handed opportunities.

Leafs TV’s Paul Hendrick reports that winger Mike Brown and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson both participated in this morning’s skate and are close to being ready to come off the injured reserve list, which would necessitate a roster move.

Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start for Philadelphia.

*******

It appears that the Mikhail Grabovski’s bite is not as bad as his bark.

The Leafs forward did not receive a suspension or fine for the biting incident involving Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty in Montreal on last Saturday. The two parties had a telephone hearing with the league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan this morning.

According to the statement released by the league, “after interviewing both players involved in the incident and reviewing all of the available video and medical reports, the League could not determine conclusively that Grabovski bit Pacioretty. The Department of Player Safety has concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to support imposing supplemental discipline.”

Pacioretty and Grabovski were both ejected in the third period following a wild scrum and the Montreal forward reportedly received a tetanus shot following the incident.

Montreal’s next game against Toronto is Wed, February 27th at the ACC.

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