The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to extend a two-game winning streak interrupted by a seven-day hiatus when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first of five meetings at Air Canada Center on Tuesday.
The Leafs have played the least amount of games in the Eastern Conference but are tied for last in the NHL standings with the Columbus Blue Jackets with 25 points, while the Lightning moved to within one point of a wild card spot with a 2-1 victory in Columbus on Monday.
The match will be the first of three visits to the ACC for Markham, ON native Steven Stamkos , who leads the Lightning with 22 points and was the central figure in speculation over the last week due to an erroneously “liked… tweet regarding his status as an unrestricted free agent next July.
‘Sign Stamkos’ signs are being handed out Tuesday night in Toronto @MapleLeafs game. https://t.co/R2DDptlQCR pic.twitter.com/Nq9eGLZWY9
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) December 15, 2015Tampa did not have a morning skate with games on back-to-back nights, which spared the 25-year-old former Rocket Richard Trophy winner the distraction of answering questions about his contract status and his social media faux pas.
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was asked about rumors of being Toronto bound last season and if it affected him while coaching the Detroit Red Wings.
“I don’t really think you think about it, to be honest with you. Everyone else thinks about it. What you do is you focus on what you’re doing, because you are pro and you try to be the best that you can be. If you think that it affected my job or my life, it didn’t at all.… Babcock said. “The only time it bothered me was when I came here(to Toronto) and people would be yelling at you. Other than that, you didn’t even notice it was going on and you didn’t worry about it. I expect it’s the same for him. I think the noise around you only affects you if you listen to it.…
Jonathan Bernier will make his first start following a four-game, 10-day conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies in which he went 3-0-1 with three shutout wins.
Frank Corrado on his #Leafs debut tonight. #TMLtalk
JOURNAL → https://t.co/OCzWQABJkg pic.twitter.com/lsdjZ1M1AA
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 15, 2015“We need him to be good, he wants to be good and we want him to be good. We had a plan, we stuck to the plan, now the next part is the execution at our level.… Babcock said of the veteran goalie that has a 0-8-1 record. “He’s a proud guy, he’s a good pro, he’s been a good goalie in the league, things got wrong for him.…
Tampa will be without two-thirds of their ‘triplets’ line as center Tyler Johnson and winger Ondrej Palat are injured. Forwards Erik Condra, Cedric Paquette and sophomore Jonathan Drouin are also out.
Toronto will insert Joffrey Lupul in place of Brad Boyes and defenseman Frank Corrado will make his Leafs debut replacing Martin Marincin. Lupul has been out since November 28th with a lingering lower body injury, while Corrado debuts after being a healthy scratch or on a conditioning assignment for the first 28 games.
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Notes of interest from Elliotte Friedman’s “30 Thoughts… column.
The reason for the Leafs allowing winger Kasperi Kapanen to depart for the World Junior Championships last weekend was because Finland was anxious to get their players together in advance of the December 26 starting date in Helsinki.
Nylander leads AHL scoring with 33 points and the Marlies have three games road left before a seven-day pre-Christmas break. It is expected that the 19-year-old will be released to head to Europe after the Marlies game in Hershey on Saturday.
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Check out my appearance on the Blue N White Tonight Podcast, as we grade the Leafs management, coach Mike Babcock, the goaltenders and defense.
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