Toronto Maple Leafs ready to roll into Boston and continue to Rattle the Top Eastern Conference Teams

Mike Smith March 19, 2012 7

Toronto Maple Leafs

“We found out Mikhail is a lefty.”

—Coach Randy Carlyle, when asked about C Mikhail Grabovski’s first NHL fight.

 

The Leafs, after a fight filled Saturday night in Ottawa are ready to roll into Boston and upset another team that  sits atop of the Eastern Conference.  Six points out of the last playoff spot with ten games to go is what the Leafs are looking at tonight.  It’s time to start scoreboard watching out-of-town games if you are a hardcore Leafs fan.  Tonight we need to look at the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals game; can the Red Wings help out the Leafs with a win against the Capitals?  Keep an eye on that score throughout the night.

I fully expect to see James Reimer get the start in-goal tonight after his two great games last week.  The wins over Tampa Bay and Ottawa were Reimer’s first consecutive wins since the first week of February and raised his overall record to 13-12-3-1.

The Bruins

After suffering a four game losing skid and finding a way to squeak a win out of Philadelphia the Boston Bruins are ripe for what some might call an end of the season “Melt Down”.   This is a team that could be limping into the post season, rattled with a few injuries and a newly acquired backup goaltender.  Marty Turco with just one start for the Bruins might have to take some of the load off of Tim Thomas for the final stretch of the regular season.  Turco could get the start tonight against the Leafs, as Thomas has been playing a stretch of games with his former back up Tuukka Rask out injured.  A over worked Thomas for the Leafs to face, or Turco with a goals against average at 4.42?  Take your pick!

 

UPDATE 11AM

Tim Thomas will be getting the start tonight against the Leafs.

 

“It’s big, especially at this time of the year. Everybody’s scrambling for points; everybody’s trying to establish position in the playoffs, in the standings, going into the playoffs, so every point is important.”

—Captain Zdeno Chara, after the Bruins ended their four-game losing streak Saturday.

 

(Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

 

James Reimer with the NHL save of the week

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=0&id=165274

 

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