MAPLE LEAFS (19-24-9) at OILERS (21-29-5)
TV: 9 p.m. ET; SNW, TSN, NHL.TV
Season series: The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 at Air Canada Centre on Nov. 30. Rookie goalie Garrett Sparks, currently with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, made 24 saves to win his NHL debut. Leo Komarov scored twice for Toronto, including the game-winner in the first period.
Maple Leafs team scope: Goalie Jonathan Bernier will start. Forwards Michael Grabner and Nazem Kadri took maintenance days and did not practice on Wednesday, but they are expected to play. Newcomers Jared Cowen and Colin Greening, acquired Tuesday in the nine-player trade that sent captain Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators, practiced with their new team for the first time; however, coach Mike Babcock would not say whether either would play. Greening had been with the Binghamton Senators of the AHL and was recalled by the Maple Leafs on an emergency basis; Cowen had been a healthy scratch 16 times this season and requested a trade earlier this year. "I'm happy I'm here, a fresh start, this is what I wanted," Cowen told the Maple Leafs website. "I wanted to be somewhere else; a good coaching staff, I know they're going to win here eventually." Forward Milan Michalek, also part of the trade, is out with a broken finger. The Maple Leafs are 3-9-2 in their past 14 games and began this five-game road trip with losses to the Senators (6-1 on Saturday) and Calgary Flames (4-3 on Tuesday).
Oilers team scope: Edmonton recalled goalie Laurent Brossoit from Bakersfield of the AHL and assigned backup goalie Anders Nilsson to the Condors. Cam Talbot has started nine of the past 11 games. The Oilers did not practice on Wednesday after returning from a 1-3-0 road trip that began with a 7-2 win at Ottawa last Thursday but was followed by three losses, 5-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, 8-1 to the New York Islanders on Sunday and 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. "We're happy with the effort and the response," coach Todd McLellan told the Oilers website. "Obviously, it was much improved over the past two games. Very competitive group that worked their butts off and gave themselves a chance to win. But that part of the game is a given. It should be a given on a nightly basis. That's the problem we have right now. I'm glad the group responded but short end of another one-goal loss." This is the start of a six-game homestand.
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