The Maple Leafs (8-11-4) are back in action tonight against the Edmonton Oilers (8-12-4) for the first time since March 13th, when the Leafs defeated the Oil 6-4 in a high scoring affair. Phil Kessel led the way for the blue and white with 2 goals and 1 assist.
Toronto is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, in which they continued to receive solid goaltending from Jonas Gustavsson, but a giveaway from Luke Schenn led to a breakaway and deciding goal for Lightning forward Simon Gagne. After losing eight straight games earlier in the season, the Leafs have collected points in 4 of the last 7 games. On the other end of the ice, the Edmonton Oilers, who are currently 15th in the Western Conference, are seeking their third consecutive win tonight.
Ales Hemsky and Ryan Whitney have led the Oilers with 18 points apiece, while rookies Jordan Eberle (15 points) and former Windsor Spitfire Taylor Hall (12 points) sit 5th and 7th respectively in team scoring. Clarke MacArthur holds top honours on the Leafs with 18 points.
Jonas Gustavsson will start his seventh straight game tonight and look to build on his surprisingly low win total of only 3 wins. The team in front of him will need to build an early lead and hold down the fort to reward Gustavsson for his stellar play this season. He is receiving recognition for his efforts, but not results as of late. Nikolai Khabibulan will make his first start for Edmonton since injuring his groin on November 17th against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Here are tonight’s lineups for both teams, courtesy of AM640 reporter Jonas Siegel:
Forwards
Joey Crabb – Mikhail Grabovski – Nikolai Kulemin
Clarke MacArthur – Nazem Kadri – Phil Kessel
Fredrik Sjostrom – Tyler Bozak – Kris Versteeg
Colton Orr – Tim Brent – John Mitchell
Defense
Tomas Kaberle – Luke Schenn
Francois Beauchemin – Mike Komisarek
Brett Lebda – Carl Gunnarsson
Goalies
Jonas Gustavsson
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
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