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Maple Leafs Game Day - Game Six: Leafs vs. Bruins

October 20, 2011, 1:04 PM ET [ Comments]
Ken Beckett
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Hot off a thrilling comeback victory over the Jets less than 24 hours ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Beantown for an Original Six battle against the Boston Bruins.

This is the first of six meetings between the two divisional rivals this season. In 2010-11, the Leafs won the season series with four wins, two of which came in the shootout.

In Wednesday's home game against the Winnipeg Jets, the Leafs found themselves down 3-1 in the third period but were able to bounce back thanks to two goals in a span of just 27 seconds on the power play.

Scoring the equalizer was Phil Kessel for his seventh goal of the season. The start for Kessel has been tremendous with seven goals and five assists through the first five games of the season. If his start wasn't enough to put an intense spotlight on the 24-year old, his return to Boston should do the trick.

Since being acquired by the Leafs in 2009, Kessel had struggled against his former team. In his first season in Blue and White, Kessel was held to just one assist and was a minus-five in six games against the Bruins. But there was some improvement last season as Kessel had two goals and three assists in six games in 2010-11 against Toronto's original six rivals.

A few lineup changes will be made for the Leafs for Thursday's game in Boston. Colby Armstrong suffered a left ankle sprain in Wednesday's game and has been placed on the injured reserve. To fill Armstrong's spot, the Leafs have recalled Nazem Kadri from the American Hockey League just one day after assigning him to the Toronto Marlies.

There was no morning skate in Boston, so specific line combinations are unknown. It was reported after Wednesday's win that Clarke MacArthur was a bit banged up and would make the trip to Boston but it was unclear if he would play or not.

Jonas Gustavsson will make his first start of the season in Boston. Gustavsson ran into some health issues last season and missed a considerable amount of time, appearing in 23 games with a 6-13-2 record and a 3.28 goals-against average.

The Leafs are off to a hot start with a 4-0-1 record, sitting atop the Northeast Division standings. The test for the Blue and White will be to keep that strong start going and not repeat last season's stumble. In 2010-11, Toronto also started out with a 4-0-1 record but then went on to lose ten of their next eleven games.

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines - Subject to change

Forwards
Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Matt Frattin - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Nazem Kadri - Matthew Lombardi - Mike Brown
Jay Rosehill - David Steckel - Colton Orr

Defencemen
Carl Gunnarsson - Dion Phaneuf
Jake Gardiner - Luke Schenn
John-Michael Liles - Cody Franson

Goalies
Jonas Gustavsson
James Reimer

After winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Bruins are off to a slow start with a 2-4-0 record, showing that the Cup hangover might prove to be real.

The Bruins are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday which marked the fourth time in six games that they have been held to one goal or less. Through six games, Boston has scored more than two goals in a game only twice, both of those games coming as victories.

Trying to prove that the sophomore slump is not real is Tyler Seguin who is off to a promising start in his second season with Boston. In six games, Seguin has a goal and leads the team in assists (4) and points (5).

Rich Peverely has been Boston's leading scorer with three goals thus far. Two of the Guelph, Ontario native's goals came in a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 8 in the second game of the season. Brad Marchand ranks second on the team with two goals.

After missing the last three games with an undisclosed injury, David Krejci participated in the team's morning skate and is a game time decision. The 25-year old has one goal this season but registered 13 goals and 49 assists in 75 games last season. In 24 career games against the Leafs, Krejci has seven goals and 13 assists.

Tim Thomas is expected to get the start in net on Thursday. Last year's Conn Smythe and Vezina trophy winner has been solid in net but has not been provided with much help offensively. The 37-year old netminder sports a mediocre 2-2-0 record but has an impressive 1.98 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.

Boston Bruins Projected Lines

Forwards
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Nathan Horton
Milan Lucic - Chris Kelly - Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot - David Krejci - Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton

Defencemen
Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuck
Dennis Seidenberg - Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference - Steve Kampfer

Goaltenders
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask

Leafs vs. Bruins gets underway at 7PM ET. The game will be broadcast on the NHL on TSN and AM640.

For up-to-the-minute Leafs news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett
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