The Bruins have already met up twice this month with former teammate Phil Kessel and his last-place Toronto Maple Leafs — once on Dec. 5 and again five days later. Both games were at home and both were easy wins. But now, the B's must take on Toronto on the road and they're doing it on the tail end of back-to-back away battles — and in the midst of a three-game losing streak no less.
When and Where
Saturday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m. (CBC, NHLN)
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Records
Bruins (16-10-7, 39 points, second place in Northeast Division, sixth place in Eastern Conference)
Maple Leafs (12-16-7, 31 points, fifth place in Northeast Division, 14th place in Eastern Conference)
Head to Head
The Bruins are on a seven-game winning streak against the Maple Leafs. They've already beaten them twice this month, and the games haven't been close as the B's have outscored Toronto 12-4 in two matchups at the Garden.
Boston won five of six against the Leafs last year with Toronto winning on Oct. 23, 2008 at the Garden, and Boston taking the next five.
Skinny
The Maple Leafs probably aren't too happy to see the Bruins riding into town. Incredibly, Toronto is just coming off an eight-game stretch in which they went 6-2 — and both losses were to the Bruins. Against everyone else, coach Ron Wilson's Leafs were unstoppable. They've since fallen back to earth, though, losing back-to-back games this week.
Projected Lineups
Bruins
Forwards
Marco Sturm–Marc Savard–Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Byron Bitz
Steve Begin–Vladimir Sobotka–Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara — Johnny Boychuk
Andy Wozniewski — Andrew Ference
Matt Hunwick — Adam McQuaid
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Maple Leafs
Forwards
Alexei Ponikarovsky–Matt Stajan–Phil Kessel
Jason Blake–Mikhail Grabovski–Niklas Hagman
Nikolai Kulemin–Wayne Primeau–Lee Stempniak
Christian Hanson–Jamal Mayers–Tim Brent
Defense
Tomas Kaberle–Mike Komisarek
Francois Beauchemin–Jeff Finger
Ian White–Luke Schenn
Goalies
Vesa Toskala
Joey MacDonald
Goaltender Matchup
Bruins
Tim Thomas is 7-8-5 with a 2.48 GAA and .914 save percentage. Thomas has three shutouts.
Tuukka Rask is 9-2-2 with a 1.97 GAA and .932 save percentage. Rask has one shutout.
Maple Leafs
Vesa Toskala is 5-6-2 with a 3.68 GAA and an .875 save percentage. Toskala has no shutouts.
Joey MacDonald is 1-4-0 with a 3.80 GAA and a .892 save percentage. MacDonald has no shutouts.
Stat Sheet
Bruins
Bruins
The Bruins are 6-4-4 on the road this season.
They have scored 88 goals, fourth-fewest in the NHL.
With three shutouts, Tim Thomas is tied with four others for second-most shutouts behind Buffalo's Ryan Miller and Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov (four).
Tuukka Rask is one of only two NHL goalies with a GAA under 2.00. (Miller is the other.)
Marc Savard is shooting 22.2 percent, fourth-best in the NHL.
Patrice Bergeron leads the B's with 24 points.
Zdeno Chara has taken 89 shots on goal.
Shawn Thornton has amassed 61 penalty minutes.
Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs are 2-6-3 against other Northeast Division teams.
They have allowed 127 goals this season, most in the NHL.
Tomas Kaberle has 29 assists, third-most in the league.
Colton Orr is fourth in the NHL with 82 penalty minutes.
Jonas Gustavsson has manned the Leafs' goal in five overtime games.
Ian White leads the Leafs with a plus-minus of plus-9.
Vesa Toskala has played 913 minutes this season.
Black and Blue
Bruins
Milan Lucic is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. He is expected to return by the end of this month.
Dennis Wideman is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
Mark Stuart is out four to six weeks with a broken sternum.
Maple Leafs
Colton Orr is day-to-day with a swollen eye.
Tim Brent suffered a torn pectoral muscle in the preseason. He is likely out until April.
Mike Van Ryn has undergone major knee surgery. He is out for the season.
This Date In Bruins History
On Dec. 19, 2006, the Bruins blew out the Senators in Ottawa, 7-2. Marco Sturm recorded a hat trick and Patrice Bergeron added five assists.
Overheard
"I really think the NHL has a great thing going here. Never would I have thought I would see a rink in the middle of Fenway Park."
–Bruins legend Ray Bourque, on Boston.com on Friday, about taking the ice at Fenway prior to the Winter Classic.
Press Box
Bruins
The B's fell in a shootout in Chicago.
The legends go for a skate at the Fens.
The Black and Gold defense is banged up.
Maple Leafs
A Vesa Toskala drop proved costly.
Can Toronto make the playoffs? Anything's possible.
The Leafs can't stop another NHL franchise from invading Ontario.
NHL
Martin Brodeur made history.
The Lightning struck down their losing streak.
Ryan Miller makes his case for the Olympics.
Outlook
At the end of a tough week, the best cure for the December blues is a refreshing meeting with Phil Kessel and the Maple Leafs. If there's one team that even on a losing streak, the B's can handle, it's Toronto — they've got seven straight wins over the Leafs to prove it.
