UPDATE: According to Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, the hand injury to Joffrey Lupul should keep him out three weeks. The winger will be in a cast for 10 days.
*******
The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to continue their recent turnaround, as they face the high powered Chicago Blackhawks at Air Canada Center on Saturday.
The Leafs put forth their second straight strong effort in a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Friday night, but found out prior to the game that winger Joffrey Lupul was lost to the team indefinitely with a broken bone in his right hand.
Lupul suffered the injury falling to the ice after tripping over a stick at the club's practice facility in Etobicoke, ON on Thursday, but completed practice and flew with the club to Ohio later in the day. The Leafs forward had x-rays taken in Columbus Friday afternoon and was informed shortly before the pre-game skate that there was a fracture.
“It was a freak accident,” GM Dave Nonis said prior to the game. “(Lupul) finished practice and it wasn’t something that jumped out as a major injury, but obviously it is significant enough that it is going to keep him out for a little while.”
The injury forced head coach Randy Carlyle to scramble his lines for the second game in a row, inserting Carter Ashton into the lineup for his first game of the season and moving veteran Daniel Winnik up to the top line. Winnik(playing in his 500th NHL game) Nazem Kadri and Phil Kessel combined for eight points, including Toronto’s three even strength goals, while David Clarkson scored the eventual game-winner on the power play midway through the middle frame.
Jonathan Bernier made 28 saves for his third win of the season, but had his bid for a second consecutive shutout ended by Cam Atkinson’s power play goal midway through the third period.
The Leafs received a number of solid performances from players who did not register a point, as Leo Komarov led the club with 5 hits and went 5-for-6 on faceoffs, while defenseman Roman Polak lead in TOI with 23:10. The victory moves the Leafs over .500(5-4-1) for the first time this season, improving their road record to 3-0-1.
The Lupul injury cannot have caught the Leafs by surprise, as the 31-year-old has missed significant time every year since being acquired from Anaheim in 2011.
Toronto was able to compensate in the short term by moving Winnik up and playing Ashton, but without one of their top six forwards for weeks, injured winger David Booth out another 2-3 weeks with a fractured foot and Brandon Kozun out at least a month with a high ankle sprain, the club recalled center Sam Carrick from the Toronto Marlies and returned defenseman Stuart Percy to the AHL affiliate.
The 22-year-old Carrick has one assist in seven games with the Marlies, but built on an excellent performance in the Calder Cup Playoffs last season by impressing at training camp in September. Carrick may get his first NHL start on Saturday on the fourth line, which would allow Carlyle to move Peter Holland up and sit a struggling Matt Frattin, who made a costly giveaway and took a minor penalty in less than seven minutes ice time against his former club on Friday.
The Hawks enter Saturday's game with a 6-3-1 record, trailing the surprising Nashville Predators in the Central Division. Chicago will get goalie Corey Crawford back between the pipes, as the Stanley Cup winner returns after missing five games with an upper body injury.
In the second of back-to-back games, the expectation is that James Reimer will get the start for Toronto, who has not seen game action since relieving Bernier in the third period of the 4-1 loss to Boston last Saturday.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter:
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information
click here.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»