For the first time this season, the Maple Leafs will have their full complement of forwards healthy as they take on NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in their third and final meeting at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday night.
Toronto is on a two-game winning streak with victories over Tampa Bay and Detroit, but lost both meetings to the Penguins at Air Canada Center; 5-2 on October 11 and 2-1 on November 14.
Pittsburgh is tied with the NY Islanders for the Metropolitan Division lead with 30 points but will be without forwards Beau Bennett and Pascal Dupuis. Bennett suffered a lower body injury in the Penguins 3-2 victory over Boston on Monday and Dupuis is out for the season after a blood clot was discovered last week.
Winger Joffrey Lupul returns to the Toronto lineup after missing 12 games with a broken hand and offseason addition David Booth makes his Leafs debut after fracturing his foot blocking a shot two months ago during a preseason game in Buffalo.
“I’m excited to be playing, excited to make a contribution.… Lupul said in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. “We played a couple good games in a row, a couple poor ones before that, so it’s time that we find a little bit of consistency and hopefully I can help add to that.…
Booth and Lupul will play on a fourth line unit with center Trevor Smith to start, but hope to move up into larger holes with the club as they shake off any rust present from a long stretch of inactivity.
“I was able to skate pretty much the whole time.… Lupul said. “I don’t think legs wise it will be anything to worry about. The first couple times I go into the boards or test the hand will be nice to get out of the way.…
The only lineup absence is on defense, as the injured Roman Polak will be replaced by Korbinian Holzer. The German-born blueliner has not played in the NHL since his 22-game stint during the 2013 lockout shortened season and has played just nine games with the Marlies before being recalled on Monday.
Holzer will be teamed with Jake Gardiner, keeping the pairings of Dion Phaneuf-Cody Franson and Morgan Rielly-Stephane Robidas intact, but Leafs coach Randy Carlyle will be relying on the five incumbents to take on a greater responsibility in the short term.
“We’ll try and spread the minutes out. We think the two young players we have in Gardiner and Rielly will have to play more.… Carlyle said. “We brought Holzer up and you can’t expect a guy like Holzer to come in and replace a Polak, that’s just not the reality of it.…
The goaltending matchup will be a repeat of the two prior meetings in Toronto, with Marc-Andre Fleury opposing Jonathan Bernier. Fleury registered his 300th career victory on Monday, reaching that mark the third-quickest in NHL history behind Hall of Famer Jacques Plante and former Oilers, Bruins and Stars goalie Andy Moog.
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Toronto nemesis and future Hall-of-Famer Daniel Alfredsson will be honored in a retirement ceremony in Ottawa on December 4th, something that prompted former Leaf Darcy Tucker to post the following on Twitter:
Guess I should book my trip to Ottawa Dec.4th I'm sure Alfie would want me there on the big day #waitingbythephone
— Darcy Tucker (@16DarcyTucker) November 26, 2014*******
Listen to my interview with Bill Watters, who talks about the late Pat Quinn and current state of the Maple Leafs:
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