Leafs Start West Coast Hop in Anaheim

The Leafs kick off a rare West coast road swing tonight when they take on the Ducks at the Honda Center. 

This is typically a little later than I would post a game preview, but you have to remember it’s only about 4 P.M. In sunny Anaheim.The Leafs enter tonight’s game sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference, just five points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.  The Leafs are a dismal 2-6-2 in their last ten games.  It’s a tale of two teams going in clearly different directions.  The Ducks are a team less than twelve months removed from winning their first Stanley Cup, and with the addition of returning veteran D-man Scott Neidermayer, are proving to be a threat to be the first team to repeat as champions since the Red Wings did it in 1997-1998.  The Ducks enter tonight’s tilt with Toronto 6th in the Western Conference; they have fifty points and are a rather impressive 7-2-1 in their previous ten contests.  This is the first time the Leafs have been to Anaheim since November 11th, 2003.

Good news on the injury front for Toronto as it looks like Vesa Toskala will be a game time decision to man the crease at the Honda Center tonight..  This means it is very likely that Toskala will be in net Saturday night when the Leafs play the San Jose Sharks.  It will be Toskala’s first game against his former club.  Still out tonight for the Maple Leafs are Bryan McCabe (hand), Mark Bell (Orbital bone.)  There is no word yet on who will be the scratches tonight, or what line combinations will be used by head coach Paul Maurice, however if practice is any indication it looks like Kyle Wellwood will centre a line featuring Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov.   This is the first of a three game road trip for the Leafs, which continues tomorrow night in Los Angeles before concluding Saturday night when they roll into the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Top Scorers:

Anaheim:

Getzlaf 46

Perry 35

Pronger 32

Toronto

Sundin 48

Antropov 35

Kaberle 27

Powerplay Ranking

Anaheim: 22nd

Toronto: 27th

Penalty Killing Rank

Anaheim: 22nd

Toronto: 25th