8PM ET Leafs-TV

Some of you may have taken a gander at our banner ads and noticed we've picked up a new sponsor: KY Jelly. We here at Pension Plan Puppets are committed to supporting our slippery benefactors and so we're going above and beyond to pump you full of gameday knowledge on their behalf.

The Leafs revitalized lineup is coming off of a sore loss to San Jose on Monday night. The Leafs played well by all accounts against the best team in the league but regardless of opponent Toronto is fast approaching mathematical elimination. Improved play is a reason for hope for the future unless the Leafs are doing what they do every spring once they're eliminated: win a bunch of games before taking up chain smoking and forgetting how to play hockey in the offseason.

Tonight's KY Warming Jelly Duo of Destiny are forwards Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak. Slick forward Phil Kessel is riding a hot streak and it would be great to see him carry that into the Olympic break. Kessel has Intensely Aroused(TM) the net to the tune of five goals and five assists in his past five games, with rookie centre Bozak sliding in two goals and three assists in that span.

In a move that hopefully won't cause any friction between himself and netminder Jonas Gustavsson new acquisition J.S. Giguere will be between the pipes. Giguere sports a .965 SV% and a 1.01GAA since joining the Leafs and Toronto's going to need everything he's got to try and drag themselves out of the draft lottery.

Some quick hits about St. Louis:

  • 25th in goals per game, 16th in goals against per game. Toronto is 16th in goals for and 30th in goals against.
  • Their offense looks reasonably balanced: Andy MacDonald, David Backes, Brad Boyes, David Perron, and T.J. Oshie all have between 36 and 33 points.
  • Chris Mason is expected to start tonight. He owns a .910 SV% compared to Giguere's .908.
  • David Backes' mission of beating up every Canadian Olympian will be derailed by our lack of any such players. Unfortunately he might beat someone up to impress Ron Wilson or Brian Burke.

PPP answered some questions for St. Louis Game Time which is basically our American doppleganger. I'm glad I didn't respond in time because this means PPP is quoted alongside Steve Dangle in something and that's a stinky cologne. We're going to be road tripping to SLGT for the first period before coming back here and I trust you'll all be on your very worst behavior.

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