Winners of four in a row and six of their last eight, the Pittsburgh Penguins will host the defensively challenged Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
The Leafs, who have allowed a division-worst 127 goals, will have to contend with the likes of league MVP Sidney Crosby and third string goaltender Ty Conklin.
Conklin, after beginning the season with the Penguins' AHL affiliate (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), has since stepped in and done an absoluetely outstanding job for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury. In five games he posted a 5-0 record, including the shootout victory in the snow on Tuesday.
The Leafs will most likely counter with a third stringer of their own, Scott Clemenson. Clemenson was handed the starting job by Paul Maurice after Raycroft was lit up for five in a game versus the New York Hockey Rangers.
"The first one sucked and then we didn't recover from it." said Raycroft at the conclusion of the game. No kidding. The Calder Trophy winner from three years ago has posted a 2-5-4 record so far this season, but does have decent number against the Penguins, going 6-2-1 with a .901 in nine career starts.
The two have played each other tough all season long, and the Leafs sport the 2-1 advantage. With Crosby running around out there and Sundin trying to get the Buds back on track, this could shape up to be a very entertaining game.
It will also be interesting to see if Wellwood will crack the lineup in an effort to combat this highly skilled Pittsburgh Penguins squad. Seeing how there doesn't appear to be any help coming from GM John Ferguson Jr., Maurice is pulling out all the stops. The Toronto head coach even resorted to centring bruiser Wade Belak on Toronto's number one power-play unit, a move applauded by all fans left in attendance Saturday night.
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