UPDATE: Leafs forward Dave Bolland was injured and left the game early in the second period after being hit by Vancouver's Zack Kassian.
According to the Toronto Sun's Mike Zeisberger, Bolland suffered a leg laceration and will not return for the rest of the game.
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Maple Leafs forward Carter Ashton was suspended two games by NHL Director Of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan on Friday for the hit on Flames blueliner Derek Smith in Wednesday’s 4-2 Toronto victory over Calgary.
Ashton’s spot in the lineup will likely be filled by Nikolai Kulemin, who has been out of the lineup with an ankle injury since October 2. Kulemin participated fully in practice with the club on Friday, skating with Joffrey Lupul and Jay McClement.
Early indications are that James Reimer will get the start against Vancouver, continuing head coach Randy Carlyle’s 1A/1B goaltending rotation. The Leafs have been the beneficiaries of great goaltending, as Reimer was sparkling last Saturday in a 4-1 win against Pittsburgh and 4-0 shutout of Edmonton on Tuesday, while Jonathan Bernier responded in kind with a 41 save effort in Calgary on Wednesday.
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One of the main contributing factors to the Leafs success so far this season has been their depth at forward, which has been able to effectively plug the holes created by the Kulemin injury and suspension to David Clarkson and provide much needed secondary offense and defensive competence.
Center Dave Bolland is fourth on the club with six goals and is a stabilizing veteran presence up the middle, Jay McClement continues to display his versatility playing multiple positions and special teams and Mason Raymond has proven to be a valuable addition to a club that lost forwards Clarke MacArthur and Leo Komarov and bought out Mikhail Grabovski in the off-season.
Raymond returns to Vancouver for the first time since the Canucks decided to not re-sign the 28-year-old during the summer, which will likely give the speedy winger a little more impetus to make his presence felt at Rogers Arena on Saturday.
Toronto has reaped the benefits of GM Dave Nonis’s intuition regarding Raymond according to Michael Traikos of the National Post , making the club after being brought in on a tryout basis and signing a one year, $1 Million contract just before the start of the season.
The winger is fifth on the club with five goals and six assists in 14 games and has fit in well as a fill-in top six forward and in a checking role.
This is not unprecented with Nonis. According to former GM Brian Burke, he was primarily responsible for convincing the Leafs to sign MacArthur in late August, 2010 after the Atlanta Thrashers walked away from the arbitration award. The result was a 62 point season(only two points behind leading scorer Phil Kessel) and leading the club with 41 assists for a deal just over $1 Million.
The contributions of Raymond, Bolland and McClement to go along with the return of Kulemin and Clarkson could give the Leafs the quality depth up front to be on an equal playing field with the elite teams of the Eastern Conference.
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