Saturday, November 18, 2006

Leafs v. Devils: Game Day Thoughts

The Leafs host a Devils team fresh off piling more doubt onto the mind of sens fans. J-S Aubin will get a chance to make amends for the 7-6 debacle that saw a potential rout turn into a painful loss. That game seemed to portend a dire future for the team but the Leafs responded by going 9-4-2 in the 15 games since.

The team will also be buoyed by the news that captain Mats Sundin will be making his return during the back-to-back games against the Bruins the 25th and 28th of November (hopefully the 25ht because I will be at that game).

Andrew Raycroft is targeting Monday's game against the Islanders for his return but in his stead Aubin has been stellar.

The Leafs will be looking to play the same type of game that they did in the first two periods against the Devils last time out. A hard, successful forecheck and plenty of traffic led the team to a 6-3 lead. As always, Patrick Elias and Brian Gionta will be the danger men for the team from Jersey. Chris McMurtry notes that Jamie Langenbrunner-Zach Parise-Travis Zajac formed a dangerous trio in the Devils triumph over the sens.

Coming off a middling performance against the Bruins Maurice will be looking for a much better showing from Kubina and the non-top line forwards. The Leafs had the Devils' number and hopefully tonight they can recapture it.

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