It feels like I just wrote one of these. hang on, let me check, no need to do the work twice...
Second Half! A new beginning! A clean slate! [oh boy, was I overly optimistic] The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action against a familiar foe, a former playoff pain, the New Jersey Devils! Not a bad opponent to kick off the win streak [ha!] and march towards the playoffs [oh man, calm down] against. New Jersey is 14th 12th in the Eastern Conference, with a 17-22-8 20-22-9 record. Five points back 1 One point ahead of the Maple Leafs, who enter the second half of the season with a 22-23-3 are in the midst of a 10 game losing streak, and have a 22-26-4 record.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ NEW JERSEY DEVILS
7:00PM - Sportsnet Ontario, TSN1050
SBN: In Lou We Trust
The Leafs: The Leafs entered the all-star break on a 6 game losing streak, having scored only 5 goals in those losses, 3 of those goals in a 4-3 loss to Ottawa to begin the break. Leo Komarov returns to the line up tonight, missed by the team and fans during his absence, but we also see injuries to team captain Dion Phaneuf (hand), forward Joffery Lupul (lower body), and defenseman Stephane Robidas (upper body). Stuart Percy looks to be scratched on defense and it's a safe assumption to say Bernier starts.
Are a bunch of fucking losers.
Projected Line Ups -Via NHL.com
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Joffrey Lupul - Mike Santorelli - Daniel Winnik
David Booth - Nazem Kadri - Richard Panik
Leo Komarov - Peter Holland - David Clarkson
Morgan Rielly - Cody Franson
Korbinian Holzer - Stephane Robidas
Jake Gardiner - Roman Polak
James Reimer
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched: Josh Leivo, Trevor Smith
Injured: Dion Phaneuf (hand)
The Devils: Scott Gomez rode an eight game point streak (9 points) into the all-star break. The Devils last game was Jan 20th in San Jose, which they won 5-2. To compare to the Leafs past 6, the Devils went 3-2-1, and were only shutout once. The Devils are missing Salvador, Clowe, Gionta, and Severson to injuries tonigh. Corey Schneider will start.
Are still boring as shit.
Here are you NHL.com line ups.
Dainius Zubrus - Mike Cammalleri - Jaromir Jagr
Patrik Elias - Travis Zajac - Martin Havlat
Adam Henrique - Scott Gomez - Steve Bernier
Tuomo Ruutu - Jacob Josefson - Jordin Tootoo
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Jon Merrill - Marek Zidlicky
Mark Fraser - Peter Harrold
Scratched: Eric Gelinas, Michael Ryder
Injured: Stephen Gionta (fractured hand), Damon Severson (fractured left ankle), Bryce Salvador (back), Ryane Clowe (suspected concussion)
Last Game: Fucking sucked
Final Thoughts: The All-Star break hasn't change my mind, This stupid fucking losing streak gives me little reason to watch, and I'll be saving the bandwidth I'd use with Game Centre and go to good ol' public access cable to watch my IceDogs continue a 10 game point streak against Owen Sound continue to beat top teams when they kick the London Knights asses on their home turf. A 6 10 game losing streak and games that frankly made me wonder if anyone at MLSE gives a shit about this season anymore, has left me settled in a mood of "prove to me I should watch again". Maybe they'll do that tonight. Then again, maybe they'll gain some ground on a better lottery pick.