GAME DAY PREVIEWS
Updated: Saturday January 30, 1999 11:10AM EST
Saturday January 30, 1999 Washington at Toronto 7pm
Only three games remain for the Toronto Maple Leafs in storied Maple Leaf Gardens, including tonight's meeting against the slumping Washington Capitals, who have won the last seven games in this series. The Maple Leafs will go on a three-game road trip after tonight before returning home to play Carolina on February 10 and Chicago three days later. The new Air Canada Centre will open for business February 20 against Montreal.
Toronto suffered its worst loss of the season Thursday, getting hammered by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-0. The Leafs, who have split their last four games, managed only 21 shots on goal for the second straight contest.
Goaltender Curtis Joseph missed Thursday's game with a groin injury and his status for tonight is uncertain. If Joseph is unable to play, Jeff Reese will make his second straight start.
Washington suffered its third straight loss and saw its winless skid reach four (0-3-1) with Friday's 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Peter Bondra scored on a penalty shot in the loss and has three goals and one assist over the past five games for the Capitals.
Washington has won seven straight games against the Maple Leafs, including a 4-1 decision on November 18 and a 5-2 triumph on January 2. Jan Bulis has three goals and an assist for the Caps in those victories.
Toronto leads the all-time series in Maple Leafs Gardens, 20-13-4, but has dropped three straight and five of the last seven when hosting Washington.
Thursday January 28, 1999 Toronto at Pittsburgh 7:30pm
Hoping to snap a season-high three-game losing streak, the Pittsburgh Penguins take on one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference -- the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Penguins were victims of a bizarre accident in Tuesday's 5-3 loss to Carolina. Starting goaltender Tom Barrasso suffered a strained neck in the first period when he was struck by the blade of a broken stick. His replacement, rookie Peter Skudra, surrendered four goals in a 10-minute span of the second period.
Skudra has not started for the Penguins since December 30 and watched his record slip to 4-4-3. He did post his first career shutout in a 2-0 blanking of Toronto on October 26, but was also the losing netminder two nights earlier at the Igloo, when the Maple Leafs posted a 6-4 win.
Pittsburgh has not dropped four in a row since a six-game skid from February 22-March 5, 1997.
Jaromir Jagr has remained hot despite the Penguins' slide with seven goals and 12 assists during an NHL season-high 12-game points streak. He is third in the league with 59 points.
After splitting their first two encounters with the Penguins, the Maple Leafs took command in the third meeting as Mats Sundin scored a goal and added two assists in a 7-1 rout of Pittsburgh on December 21 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Sundin is Toronto's leading scorer with 47 points and has helped his team to the top spot in the Northeast Division, one point ahead of Ottawa. Right wing Steve Thomas has three goals and four assists during a four-game points streak.
Toronto's power play is red hot, scoring 10 times in 30 chances over the last seven games.
The Maple Leafs are 5-1-1 in their last seven contests and have not played since a 4-2 victory at St. Louis last Thursday. Toronto has posted an impressive 16-2-1 record against Western Conference clubs.
Thursday January 21, 1999 Toronto at St. Louis 8pm
The surging Toronto Maple Leafs aim to prolong their dominance over the Western Conference tonight when they continue a seven-game road trip against the slumping St. Louis Blues.
The Leafs held on for a wild 6-4 victory over the league-leading Dallas Stars on Wednesday, improving to 3-1-1 on their trip. Toronto has lost just once in its last six games (4-1-1) and is a remarkable 15-2-1 against the West.
Pat Quinn's team is first in the Northeast Division, one point ahead of Ottawa and two in front of Buffalo. The Leafs are enjoying an amazing turnaround. They did not collect their 26th win last season until March 28, in their 72nd game.
Toronto's power play has scored in six straight games, going 8-for-24 in that span. Center Steve Sullivan has four goals and two assists in the last four games.
St. Louis completed a five-game road trip with a 4-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday. The Blues lost four of five on the trip but should be happy to get back to the Kiel Center, where they have won five of their last six contests.
The Blues need to right themselves in a hurry because they are tied with improving San Jose for seventh in the Western Conference, five points ahead of Los Angeles, Nashville and Vancouver.
St. Louis won four of five meetings against the Leafs last season, including both games in St. Louis.
Wednesday January 20, 1999 Toronto at Dallas 8:30pm
The marquee matchup of the night takes place here as the Toronto Maple Leafs try to assert themselves as one of the league's elite when they battle the league-leading Stars.
The Stars have a league-best 61 points but have been mortal of late, going 2-3-1 in their last six contests.
Dallas was unbeaten in seven straight home games (6-0-1) before Monday's 5-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The Stars are 14-3-2 on home ice and lead second-place Phoenix by seven points in the Pacific Division.
Center Mike Modano has four goals and seven assists in the last nine contests, while left wing Brett Hull has six goals and six assists in his last 11 games.
The Leafs may want to apply pressure early because the Stars are 18-2-4 this season when scoring first.
Toronto had a four-game unbeaten streak stopped with a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, dropping Toronto to 2-1-1 on a seven-game road trip. Pat Quinn's team is tied with Buffalo for second in the Northeast Division, one point behind surging Ottawa.
The Leafs have had tremendous success against the Western Conference this season, going 14-2-1. But they struggled in their first meeting with the Stars on December 23, losing 5-1 as Modano scored three goals. Toronto is 2-9-1 against the Stars over the last three seasons, including 1-5 in Dallas.
Toronto's power play has scored in five straight games, going 6-for-20.
Monday January 18, 1999 Toronto at Carolina 7pm
After snapping Philadelphia's 15-game unbeaten streak on Saturday, the high-flying Toronto Maple Leafs hope to avoid a letdown tonight when they face the Carolina Hurricanes.
Derek King scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:19 remaining in the third period as the surprising Maple Leafs took over first place in the Northeast Division with a 4-3 victory over the Flyers. Toronto is second overall in the Eastern Conference with 53 points, just one behind the Flyers.
The Maple Leafs improved to 2-0-1 on their seven-game road trip, moving a season-high 10 games over .500. Toronto is 6-2-1 in its last nine contests, scoring four or more goals six times during that span.
The Maple Leafs continue to win despite the lack of a scorer in the NHL's top 10. Center Mats Sundin is tied for 11th in 44 points and is seventh in assists with 30.
Goaltender Curtis Joseph is 20-12-3 and tied for second in the league in wins, trailing only Buffalo's Dominik Hasek, who has 21 victories.
Carolina is coming off Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals and is just 1-3-1 in its last five contests. But the Hurricanes maintain a four-point lead over second-place Florida in the weak Southeast Division.
Center Keith Primeau scored his team-leading 21st goal and added an assist against Washington, giving him five goals and two assists over the last seven games.
Tonight's meeting is the first of four contests between the teams this season.
Saturday January 16, 1999 Toronto at Philadelphia 7pm
The mighty Philadelphia Flyers bring an NHL season-high 15-game unbeaten streak and four straight shutouts into tonight's meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Philadelphia is 10-0-5 during its longest unbeaten streak since a 17-game run during the 1996-97 season. The 15-game streak equals the longest this season after the Dallas Stars went 12-0-3 from December 6-January 6. Roger Neilson's team still has a long way to go to catch the team and NHL record of 35 games without a loss (25-0-10), set during the 1979-80 season.
The Flyers blanked the Washington Capitals, 4-0, Wednesday, for their fourth straight shutout.
John Vanbiesbrouck started the shutout string with a 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday. He shared a 2-0 blanking with Ron Hextall against Carolina on Saturday and turned aside 24 shots in an 8-0 rout of Nashville on Monday before making 25 saves Wednesday.
Vanbiesbrouck has gone 212 minutes, 11 seconds without allowing a goal, while the Flyers have been perfect for 259:47. The four straight shutouts matches the team record set by Hextall and Garth Snow, who had two apiece from December 14-21, 1996.
The Flyers are still two shutouts shy of the NHL record, held by the Ottawa Senators from January 31-February 18, 1928.
Captain Eric Lindros has four goals and seven assists in four games since returning from a concussion. Linemate John LeClair has been just as hot with four goals and seven assists during a six-game points streak.
The Maple Leafs blew a two-goal lead in the third period Wednesday and settled for a 3-3 tie with the Florida Panthers.
Toronto is unbeaten in three straight games (2-0-1) and 5-2-1 in its last eight. The Leafs are tied with Ottawa for first place in the Northeast Division, one point ahead of Buffalo.
Toronto's power play is 4-for-12 in the last three games, but the penalty-killing unit has allowed four goals in 16 chances in that span.
Defenseman Bryan Berard, who was acquired last weekend from the New York Islanders for goaltender Felix Potvin, did not play Wednesday due to an injured groin.
The Flyers have won both games against Toronto this season and four straight at home. They have won seven of their last eight home contests with Toronto and are 37-11-8 all-time in Philadelphia against the Leafs.
Wednesday January 13, 1999 Toronto at Florida 7:30pm
The Florida Panthers attempt to run their unbeaten streak to a season-high five straight games when they host the Northeast Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs. Ray Whitney's goal with 12:02 remaining Sunday snapped a tie and enabled the Panthers to complete an unbeaten road trip with a 2-1 triumph over the Calgary Flames.
The Panthers went 1-0-3 on their four-game trip, matching their longest unbeaten streak of the season. They also went unbeaten in four straight games to start the season. Florida has not gone five straight games without a loss since a 3-0-3 run from December 26-January 4 of last season.
Mats Sundin's power-play tally with 8:08 remaining capped a three-goal comeback as the Maple Leafs moved back into first place in the Northeast with Tuesday's 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Toronto, which has won five of its last seven games, is nine games over .500 for the first time since ending the 1993-94 season 43-29-12. The Leafs are second overall in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia Flyers.
Right wing Mike Johnson has been hot for Toronto, recording five goals and two assists in the last four games.
Toronto, the league's highest scoring team, is 14-0-1 when registering four or more goals.
The Leafs won both meetings against Florida last season.
Tuesday January 12, 1999 Toronto at Tampa Bay 7pm
With their latest losing streak at five games, the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. The Lightning's abysmal season continues to get worse. Since a 3-0
victory over the hapless New York Islanders on December 29th, the have been outscored, 23-11, during a five-game losing streak.
Tampa Bay has just one win in its last 12 games (1-10-1) and is mired in a woeful 3-22-1 stretch. In their last three games, the Lightning are 1-for-14 on the power play, while allowing six goals in 19 man-advantage chances against.
Jacques Demers' team has been outshot in 12 of the last 13 games.
The Maple Leafs have some extra incentive tonight after falling into a second-place tie with Buffalo Monday, one point behind the streaking Ottawa Senators.
Toronto has won four of its last six games, including a 6-3 victory over Boston on Saturday. The Leafs have split 16 road games this season and are just 9-13-1 against the Eastern Conference.
With Felix Potvin traded to the Islanders, Toronto will have to rely on rookie Francis Larivee to back up Curtis Joseph. Glenn Healy is out four to six weeks after spraining his knee Sunday in the team's skills competition.
The Leafs rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 overtime victory over the Lightning on January 4th. Toronto has won the last four meetings.
Saturday January 9, 1999 Boston at Toronto 7pm
The Boston Bruins will be shooting for their fourth straight win, a tie for second place in the Northeast Division and a sweep of a home-and-home series with Toronto when they pay their final visit to the historic Maple Leaf Gardens. Byron Dafoe stopped 27 shots and Dmitri Khristich scored the go-ahead goal with 12:47 remaining as the Bruins posted a 2-1 home victory over the Maple Leafs on Thursday for their third straight win. Boston won a season-high four consecutive games between November 21st-27th in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten streak.
The Bruins have won four of their last five games and trail Toronto by just two points for second place in the Northeast with 44 points. Buffalo is first with 47.
Dafoe is 6-2 lifetime against Toronto and former Maple Leafs coach Pat Burns is unbeaten against his old club since taking over in Boston last season. He has a 3-0-1 mark against Toronto, including a 4-1 victory at the FleetCenter on November 5th.
The Bruins visit Toronto again on March 17th, but by then the Maple Leafs will have moved into the Air Canada Centre. The Bruins are hoping that the new venue will bring them greater success than the old one. They have not won a game at Toronto since January 22nd, 1992, going 0-2-3 during that stretch, including a 2-2 tie in their last visit on New Year's Eve, 1997. They are a woeful 86-148-49 all-time in the city.
Toronto had won three of its last four games before Thursday's loss and will most likely go to starting netminder Curtis Joseph, who has a 6-6 career mark against Boston.
Backup Glenn Healy started in place of Joseph on Thursday, giving the No. 1 goalie a rest after seven straight starts. Healy made 25 saves while suffering his first loss of the season. He was 2-0 in his previous decisions.
Captain Mats Sundin is the Maple Leafs' leading scorer with 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists), but he has managed just six goals in 33 career games against the Bruins.
Thursday January 7, 1999 Toronto at Boston 7pm
The Boston Bruins hope to continue their strong play of late when they oppose the equally hot Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the FleetCenter. The Bruins have won three of their last four games and find themselves in third place in the Northeast Division with 42 points, trailing Buffalo and the second-place Leafs.
Rob DiMaio returned to action on Monday after missing five games with viral meningitis and had a goal and an assist to help the Bruins to a 5-1 victory over Calgary.
Byron Dafoe has allowed one goal in each of the Bruins last two wins and boasts a 5-2 career mark against the Maple Leafs, including a victory in a 4-1 victory on November 5th.
Toronto overcame a three-goal deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4, in overtime Monday, as Dimitri Yushkevich fired a 60-foot slap shot that deflected off teammate Fredrik Modin 1:54 into the extra session.
The Leafs, who have won three of four, are led by center Mats Sundin, who leads the team with 42 points. Toronto is 9-0 when Sundin scores a goal.
Curtis Joseph is tied for third in the league with 17 wins and has started the last seven contests for Toronto. He is 6-6 in 12 career decisions against Boston with a 2.32 goals-against average.
In that November 5th meeting at the FleetCenter, Dmitri Khristich scored his 200th career goal. Boston owns a 238-232-96 lead in the all-time series.
Monday January 4, 1999 Tampa Bay at Toronto 7:30pm
The Tampa Bay Lightning hope to finish with an above .500 all-time record at Maple Leaf Gardens as they take on Toronto.
This will be Tampa Bay's final game at the historic Maple Leaf Gardens, which Toronto will vacate after a February 13th game against Chicago. The Lightning have had a fair amount of success in the old building, compiling a 5-5 mark, including wins in four of their last five trips there.
But the Maple Leafs won last season's battle in Toronto, 5-2, and have won the last three meetings overall.
This game pits two teams having very different seasons. The Lightning own the league's worst record with just 21 points while the Leafs possess the fourth-best mark in the Eastern Conference with 44 points, one behind first-place Buffalo in the Northeast Division.
However, Toronto has been struggling at home lately, losing three of its last four at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Leafs lost to Washington, 5-2, on Saturday to fall to 6-12-1 against the Eastern Conference.
The Lightning are 1-6-1 in their last eight games, including a 4-3 loss at Carolina on Wednesday despite Wendell Clark's hat trick. Tampa Bay is 0-4-1 in its last five on the road.
Saturday January 2, 1999 Washington at Toronto 7pm
With the halfway point of the season fast approaching, the struggling Washington Capitals need points in a big way to get themselves back in playoff contention and can start tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Capitals are third in the weak Southeast Division and 13th overall in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only Tampa Bay. The defending Eastern Conference champions are eight points out of the final playoff spot.
Sergei Gonchar had a goal and an assist but the Caps allowed two unanswered tallies in a 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Washington has lost eight of its last 11 games overall and is just 6-11-1 on the road this season.
The absence of playmaking center Adam Oates obviously has hurt the Capitals, who have been held to two goals or less in 10 of their last 15 games. Oates has missed the last 13 contests with a groin injury but is third on the team with 14 points.
Since losing back-to-back games to Dallas and Montreal, Toronto has posted a 4-1 win over Anaheim on Wednesday and a 4-2 triumph in Detroit the following night. The Maple Leafs have won five of seven and sit atop the Northeast Division, one point ahead of Buffalo.
At 21-13-2, the Leafs are 12 points ahead of last season's pace. They have been exceptionally good at home (13-6-2) but are just 6-11-1 overall against the Eastern Conference.
Captain Mats Sundin has three goals and eight assists during a seven-game points streak.
The Capitals defeated the Leafs, 4-1, at home on November 18th for their sixth straight win against Toronto. The Leafs have not won in this series since November 10th, 1995.