The Maple Leafs begin a daunting three games in four-day stretch on Saturday night, as they host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Air Canada Center.
Pittsburgh began their season with a 6-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Consol Energy Center Thursday, with Crosby scoring a pair of goals to give head coach Mike Johnston’s his first NHL victory. The game also marked the return of Evgeni Malkin, who played the wing with center Brandon Sutter after being out of action for most of training camp due to injury.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start for Pittsburgh, while Jonathan Bernier was in the home goal for the morning skate and is the likely starter for Toronto.
Maple Leafs forward Richard Panik skated once again with winger Daniel Winnik and center Peter Holland on Saturday morning at ACC and will see his first action, replacing Matt Frattin in the lineup. The 23-year-old winger is not totally unfamiliar with his new linemates, as he played with Holland as a member of the OHL’s Guelph Storm after being traded from Belleville in 2011.
“The issue with (Panik) is going to be consistency.… Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said on Saturday. “He’s got a skill set that wouldn’t designate him as a fourth line hockey player. He should play higher than that in the lineup.…
Defenseman Cody Franson was on the ice and felt no ill effects of the bruised knee that kept him out of the 4-3 defeat to Montreal on Wednesday. He could replace rookie defenseman Stuart Percy in the lineup and play on the first power play with Dion Phaneuf, but the Leafs could hold off on inserting the veteran defenseman until Sunday.
The Leafs will leave immediately following the game for New York, where they take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden Sunday night, before returning to Toronto to face the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. With games in back-to-back nights, it is probable that backup James Reimer will get the start on Broadway.
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While the perception may be accurate that Leafs coach Randy Carlyle’s job is on the line based on the results on the ice, that does not appear to be the case with GM Dave Nonis, who is in the second year of a five-year contract extension signed with outgoing MLSE Chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke in July 2013.
In an interview with ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun, Leafs team president Brendan Shanahan indicates that he has a good working relationship with Nonis and that the organizational changes made last summer were not simply Shanahan cleaning house, but the two working in concert to improve and upgrade the organization.
"Dave's been very open," Shanahan said. "I had a good relationship with him before I came here. There are some things that, whether I got hired or not, Dave was going to do. Now with me being hired, with every change people are going to assume it's me. Dave recognized and knew there are things that he needed to do and changes that he needed to make.… *******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
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