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Scrivens With Second Straight Shutout, Starts In Tampa; Injury Update

February 18, 2013, 10:22 PM ET [1318 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Per TSN's Jonas Siegel, Ben Scrivens will make his fourth straight start tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was thought that with back to back games, Scrivens might get a night off and backup Jussi Rynnas would get the start, but after two straight shutouts over Ottawa and Florida, Coach Randy Carlyle is staying with the hot goalie.

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Leafs GM Dave Nonis provided an update on his injured players this morning in Tampa, stating that goaltender James Reimer is set to resume skating in the next day or two. Reimer strained the MCL in his left knee on February 11 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Joffrey Lupul, who suffered a fractured forearm on January 23rd in Pittsburgh, skated this morning but is still weeks away from returning to action.

Winger Matt Frattin, who had a procedure performed on his surgically repaired knee last week is about 10 days away from returning to the lineup.

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It took 19 games for goaltender Ben Scrivens to earn his first NHL shutout and just one more game to get his second.

The Maple Leafs overcame a sluggish start and defeated the struggling Florida Panthers 3-0 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL, as Scrivens made 37 saves for his fourth win of the season.

Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri and Clarke MacArthur scored for the Leafs, who have won six of their last seven games and are tied with the Boston Bruins for second in the Northeast Division, one point behind the first place Montreal Canadiens.

The win also continued the Blue and White's success on the road, as they now have a record of 7-2-0 away from the Air Canada Center.

Toronto appeared to be following the same dangerous blueprint that earned them a victory over Ottawa on Saturday, as they were outchanced and outshot by their opponent for the first half of the game, but fortuitously took the lead late in the first, as Phil Kessel wired a wrist shot past Panthers goalie Jose Theodore.

Toronto‘s pair of pugilists made their presence felt again, as Colton Orr tangled with Panthers behemoth George Parros in a long and spirited bout early in the game and Frazer McLaren plastered Tyson Strachan late in the second.

Florida pressed the attack in the first half of the middle frame, outshooting the Leafs 10-2, but were denied by Scrivens, who for the second game in a row has shown the level of proficiency he displayed during the Marlies run in the AHL Playoffs last spring.

The latter half of the period saw Toronto take control of the game, as they outshot the Panthers 12-1 and lengthened their lead, with Kadri scoring his fifth of the season on the power play and assisting on MacArthur’s third of the year 1:44 later.

Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, who missed eight games with hip/groin problems, replaced John-Michael Liles in the lineup and played 21:52 partnered with Mike Kostka. Mark Fraser was +2 for the game and leads Toronto with a +13 plus/minus for the season.

Scrivens shutout streak has reached 144:51, going back to the second period of the Carolina game last Thursday.

It will be curious if Coach Randy Carlyle opts to start Scrivens again in the second of back to back games in the Sunshine State, as the Leafs face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

With James Reimer slated to start lightly skating in the next few days, it does not appear likely that he will be available for any of the games this week. After Tampa, the club will have a day off before facing the Buffalo Sabres at the ACC on Thursday and then take on the Senators in Kanata, ON on Saturday night. The temptation would be to start Scrivens tomorrow, but if they do, it would mean that he would have to make four starts in six days instead of mixing in backup Jussi Rynnas for a start.



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