The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the final week of a regular season marked by organizational transition and change with more adjustments to their roster, as winger Milan Michalek will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
The 31-year-old Michalek had one goal and five assists in 13 games for Toronto after being acquired from Ottawa in the deal for Dion Phaneuf on February 9th and was injured in the 4-1 loss in Buffalo on Thursday.
The Leafs have summoned rookie Frederik Gauthier from the AHL Marlies on emergency recall to take Michalek's place in the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings at Air Canada Center on Saturday.
The 20-year-old center was a healthy scratch for the Marlies on Friday and took the morning skate at Air Canada Center with Byron Froese and veteran Brooks Laich.
Toronto embarks on their final homestand of the season against the Detroit Red Wings, who are in the midst of a tight battle for an Eastern Conference playoff spot with Boston and Philadelphia. The Wings kept pace with a 3-2 win over Minnesota at Joe Louis Arena on Friday.
Jimmy Howard made 20 saves in the victory and will go in the second of back-to-back games.
The Leafs surprisingly are not going with veteran Jonathan Bernier, who they have been alternating with rookie Garret Sparks. Bernier made 38 saves in a 1-0 shutout of the Wings on March 13, but head coach Mike Babcock will opt for Sparks, who faced 37 shots in a 4-1 loss to Buffalo on Thursday.
Nazem Kadri received a $5000 fine the NHL for two diving/embellishment incidents in March, something that his head coach believes has affected the Leafs center's abilities to get calls and will have to change.
"I think (Kadri) has a reputation, I think (the officials) made that clear in the previous four games." Babcock said. "My recommendation for him is don't change things you do. Play hard, be mean, compete, be good defensively. Have a good summer, come back ready to play and be a better pro, have a better shot and then don't dive. When someone trips you, you're tripped. Just play as hard as you possibly can. The harder you play, the more penalties you're going to draw."
The Leafs forward did not agree or like the penalty handed out by the league and stated that it will not affect how he approaches the game going forward.
"I'm going to play the same way. I don't agree with (the fine), so it's not something that bothers me too much." Kadri said "After I paid it, it's water under the bridge."
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The bottom of the NHL standings are tight entering the final week, with Toronto tied with Edmonton at 67 points. The Leafs have five games remaining; three at ACC against Detroit, Florida and Columbus and road games in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
Friday's results provided some good news for the Blue and White, as Winnipeg earned a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to Chicago and Vancouver won a 3-2 decision in Anaheim, their second straight victory after snapping a nine-game losing streak.
Toronto has some advantages in their pursuit of 30th place, in spite of having two games in hand on the Oilers. The Leafs play three teams who will be motivated to win in Detroit, Florida(battling for top spot in the Atlantic) and Philadelphia. They also will likely end the season with the lowest amount of Regulation and Overtime Wins (ROW) in the league, that will act as a tiebreaker.
Vancouver : 71 pts – 25 ROW - 4 games left (LA, @EDM, @CAL, EDM)
Calgary : 70 pts – 30 ROW – 4 games left ( @EDM, LA, VAN, @MIN)
Winnipeg : 70 pts – 29 ROW - 4 games left (MIN, @ANA, @SJ, @LA)
Columbus : 68 pts – 24 ROW - 5 games left (@CAR, NYR, @TOR, @BUF, CHI)
Edmonton : 67 pts – 26 ROW - 3 games left (CAL, VAN, @VAN)
Toronto : 67 pts – 22 ROW - 5 games left (DET, FLA, CLB, @PHI, @NJ)
The Oilers, Canucks and Flames play a combined four games against each other in the final week, guaranteeing at least eight and as many as 12 points (with three-point games) between the three clubs.
A realistic line of demarcation for the Leafs could be 70 points to finish 29th or 30th. If Toronto wins two or more of their last five games, they will likely finish in 27th or 28th place, which would cut the percentage of winning the draft lottery from 20% to 9.5%.
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