The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to bounce back from a two game losing streak with the first of a three-game home stand against the surprisingly resilient Tampa Bay Lightning at Air Canada Center on Tuesday.
Toronto has been remarkably streaky in the last month. After winning three games in a row(capped off by the Winter Classic win in Ann Arbor, MI), the club lost the next four, then went on a six-game winning streak, before losing the last two games of their road swing in Dallas and Winnipeg.
In a quirk of scheduling, this is the first of four meetings between the Leafs and their new division rival in the final 28 games of the regular season schedule. Toronto will play in Tampa on February 6 and April 8 and the Lightning will return to the ACC on March 19.
The Lightning have been a surprise under sophomore coach Jon Cooper. With a 31-16-5 record, they trail Atlantic Division leading Boston by two points, in spite of the loss of superstar Steven Stamkos to a broken tibia in mid-November.
The success is due in part to goalie Ben Bishop, who will start against the Leafs and has been one of the best goaltenders in the league since being acquired from Ottawa last April. The 27-year-old Denver, CO native leads the NHL in save percentage and trails only Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and San Jose’s Antti Niemi in wins with 26.
Veterans Martin St. Louis and Valtteri Filppula have picked up the offensive slack in the absence of Stamkos. The 38-year-old Art Ross Trophy winner has not skipped a beat after being snubbed by Team Canada, as he is currently on a 10 game point streak. Filppula will represent Finland in the upcoming Sochi games and has enjoyed success in his first season with Tampa after leaving the Red Wings as a unrestricted free agent last summer.
Jonathan Bernier will get the start in goal for Toronto, who have six games remaining before the 17 day hiatus for the Sochi games. Four of the six games are at the ACC (TB,FLA,OTT and VAN) and it is imperative that the Maple Leafs take advantage on home ice, as they will play only nine of the remaining 22 games at home after the Olympic break.
Coach Randy Carlyle stated that most teams(including his club) will be approaching the next two weeks with increased ferocity to position themselves favorably for the stretch run after the Sochi games have concluded. He also indicated that the Leafs will treat the players to a mini-training camp .
“Everybody is looking forward to the break, from a standpoint of resting some bodies.” Carlyle said after practice Tuesday morning. “We’ll try to advise our players on what we think they should do over the break, but I know sometimes those things fall on deaf ears, but we can expect that there will be a training camp type atmosphere when they get back.”
Wingers Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk participated fully at the morning skate on Tuesday and will be in the lineup after leaving the ice with injury concerns at practice on Monday.
On the injury front, Trevor Smith is almost fully recovered from the broken hand suffered against the Florida Panthers on December 17. Carlyle indicated that Smith will be checked out by team doctors in the next few days and undergo an x-ray to confirm that the injury is healed. Dave Bolland participated in practice briefly with the team for the second day in a row and is slowing progressing from the lacerated ankle tendon suffered in early November, but a target date for his return has not been determined.
Bolland skates at the MasterCard Center – Monday, January 27
According to Sportsnet FAN 590’s David Alter, injured winger David Clarkson took to the ice before the morning skate but not in full gear, which would indicate that he is not close to returning from an elbow injury.
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