The hot and cold Toronto Maple Leafs look to make it four wins in a row as take on the Montreal Canadiens at Air Canada Center Saturday as a part of the annual Hockey Day In Canada celebration. The Leafs hope to keep pace in the race for an Eastern Conference playoff spot as they have been able to bounce back from a four game skid following the Winter Classic.
The Canadiens sit third in the Atlantic Division, six points ahead of Toronto for the last guaranteed divisional playoff spot after defeating the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in overtime on Thursday on a goal from Norris Trophy winner PK Subban.
Subban leads the club with 34 points and was selected for Team Canada along with teammate Carey Price less than two weeks ago. Price will get the start in goal for Les Habitants, while Jonathan Bernier will be between the pipes for Toronto after James Reimer was less than stellar against Buffalo on Wednesday.
Toronto will make a few lineup adjustments for Saturday night’s contest, wingers Frazer McLaren and David Clarkson will miss at least three games after being placed on injured reserve.
Winger Troy Bodie was recalled from the Toronto Marlies, but it is uncertain whether he will replace Clarkson on the third line with Peter Holland and Nikolai Kulemin or whether Jay McClement or Carter Ashton will be given a bigger role by Leafs coach Randy Carlyle.
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Injured Center Dave Bolland was on the ice for the fourth day in row on his road to recovery from a lacerated ankle tendon, but that encouraging sign is likely not to translate into a quick return for the two-time Stanley Cup winner.
Bolland spoke to the media at the ACC following the morning skate on Saturday and stated that in spite of the encouraging signs of being able to return to the ice with a specially designed boot for his injured ankle, there is still no timetable for his return to fully participate in practice or return to game action.
It does not sound like the 27-year-old Mimico, ON native will be able to play in the three weeks leading up to the Olympic break in early February and that a realistic target date for him to return is late February or early March.
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