The Maple Leafs lineup took another hit as winger Nikolai Kulemin will be out up to two weeks with a chipped bone in his ankle.
According to
Stephen Whyno of Canadian Press, the 27 year old winger suffered the injury during team practice on Friday.
Coach Randy Carlyle indicated that team doctors opted to have Kulemin sit out and let the ankle heal fully rather than have the winger play through pain and affect his level of play.
Toronto has recalled winger Spencer Abbott from the Toronto Marlies and he will make his first NHL start tonight as Toronto faces the Ottawa . The 25-year-old former Hobey Baker finalist scored 33 points in 55 AHL games in 2012-13 and impressed the Leafs brass with his speed and effort in the preseason.
Abbott will likely fill in for Kulemin on a line with Joffrey Lupul and Nazem Kadri.
The Leafs will be suiting up three rookies for their home opener and first installment of the Battle of Ontario, as 2012 first rounder Morgan Rielly will play on the club’s second defense pairing with Cody Franson and Carter Ashton will play on the fourth line with Colton Orr and Jay McClement.
Expect Carlyle to shorten his bench, moving McClement or Dave Bolland up to play a more prominent role or going with four defensemen if the score is close late in the game, as the Leafs had two full days off since their win in Philadelphia and do not play again until Tuesday night.
The Senators are playing the second of back-to-back games, having beaten the Sabres 1-0 Friday night on a late goal by Erik Karlsson.
Craig Anderson sparkled in a 35-save shutout performance on Friday night and will get the start in goal for Ottawa, while James Reimer, who has an 8-1-1 career record, three shutouts and 1.69 GAA against the Senators, will make his second start of the season for Toronto.
Leafs Lineup
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Joffrey Lupul – Nazem Kadri – Spencer Abbott
Mason Raymond – Dave Bolland – Troy Bodie
Jamie Devane – Jay McClement – Colton Orr
Dion Phaneuf – Carl Gunnarsson
Morgan Rielly – Cody Franson
Jake Gardiner – Paul Ranger
James Reimer
Jonathan Bernier
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Former Leaf Clarke MacArthur makes his regular season return to the Air Canada Center after signing with the division rival Senators and did not have too many nice things to say about Randy Carlyle.
In an interview with Sportsnet’s
Chris Johnston, the winger sounded off on his former coach, as being scratched in the Boston playoff series was the final determining factor in him leaving Toronto.
“I didn’t have a relationship (with Carlyle) and not many guys do,” MacArthur said. “It’s one of those things where he runs the show there and everyone knows that and that’s the way it is. It’s worked for him in the past, he’s got a (Stanley) Cup from that, but at the same time there’s other ways to do things, too.”
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