Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs look to win their 3rd in a row tonight against a struggling Ducks team. A win would also give them 3 of 4 on the road trip that started with a loss in Carolina. 

The Leafs were lucky to skate away with 2 points in Dallas, find themselves hemmed in their own zone for minutes at a time but Lupul and Gustavsson stole the game in the shootout.

Gustavsson has now won his last 3 starts and has a better save percentage than that of Flyers goaltender Ilya Brryzgalov. His strength in between the pipes has been one of the defining factors for the Leafs as the continue to suffer from a slew of injuries.

In the game against Dallas both Carl Gunnarsson and Dave Steckel left with injuries and are considered day-to-day. Its not known if either will play tonight.

Anaheim is coming off a tough loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Up by two in the third the Ducks dropped 4 straight and went on to lose the game. The Ducks are mired in a downward spiral, having only won twice in their past 17 games.

Even with the injuries that are currently plaguing the Leafs, it would seem this tilt is slanted to favour the Leafs; however, in these situations its always important to be wary. The Ducks will not want to suffer an embarrassment like last nights again.

The Leafs may also be getting a little tired. Both Phaneuf and Liles did not skate in yesterdays practice (both skated near or above 25mins in the game against Dallas.) and the banged up Leafs have been constantly working with a shortened bench.

Gusty will need to be big again, and the Leafs will have to keep their legs if they want to finish this road trip with a W. Look for Kessel and Lupul to come out big after a quiet regulation period in Dallas.

Leafs - 4-1.