Leafs Looking For Fourth Win In Chicago

The Maple Leafs, currently sitting in second last in the eastern conference, will go up against a third place, Chicago Blackhawk team currently riding a two game win streak.

Toronto was driving with confidence going into Tuesdays game against the Wild, only to be sadly upset. Although the Leafs outshot the Wild 39-31, they still came up three goals short of forcing an overtime frenzy.

Fridays game against the Hawks will not only be a test to Toronto's offence, with the amount of drama going on with goaltenders, the back end will surly be tested with the Hawk's averaging 33 shots/game.

Rumored to be starting in net for the Leafs is struggling Vesa Toskala. If so, he will have his first start since posting a 5-4 shootout loss to the rival Canadiens on October 31st.

Meanwhile, Cristobal Huet will make his 14th start of the season, looking for his eighth win. With a fair save percentage sitting at .901 and a GGA of 2.21, it looks like the Maple Leafs offence might struggle finding a way to slip the puck past, or even trying to get past a solid Blackhawk defence.

Patrick Kane has a nine game point streak going, and seems to only get better, game by game. And with Jonathan Toews back in the lineup coming off an injury, in his past two games back, he's posted a point in each.

Chicago's last five games have not been a walk in the park, playing Montreal, Phoenix, Colorado twice, and the L.A Kings. Most of which, that have proven to be worthy of a top eight spot in the western conference.

For the Leafs offence, Alexei Ponikarovski will be one to keep an eye on, as he's posted four points in the past five games. Unexpectedly showing to be an offensive presence up front for a Maple Leafs team lacking such a quality!

As been said many times, Phil Kessel's addition has proved to boost offensive numbers. Seems that since his debut as a Leaf, it jumped his other teammates to play to their maximum potential, which sets a positive environment, and clearly sparked some much anticipated confidence!

As of now, it seems a little unclear of what the lines will look like for the Maple Leafs, as Jason Blake was being shifted around last game. Niklas Hagman took to the top line for portions of the game, so it seems that it will have to wait to know for sure who will be playing with who.

Seems that Mike Komisarek just can't stay healthy. When the Leafs faced the Red Wings, he was out with an injury, and on Tuesday against the Wild, only played six shifts before leaving the game. Ron Wilson has confirmed that a small tear is evident in a quad muscle, that will keep him out of action for at least three weeks. Garnet Exelby will cover Komisarek's position against the Blackhawks Friday night.