Puck Drop: 7:30PM TSN
Friday is the actual date of the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal has been celebrating this for the past 99 years so hopefully the next time we play them they'll have shut up about their anniversary. On this the week of their birthday wouldn't it be nice to change our fortunes? Having lost to Montreal in OT on opening night and then in a shootout a month later I say it's high time the Leafs took it to Montreal.
Our defense is playing much better, although Gunnarsson is out hurt and will be replaced by Jeff Finger. Vesa Toskala is still "hurt" while he figures out how to stop a puck from going into a net which lets Jonas Gustavsson get another start after last night's game against Buffalo.
Thing is, you never know what you're going to get from this Leafs team. They came out hard and fast against Buffalo but couldn't hang with a superior squad. If they played last night's game against Montreal I think they would have left with two points so it's tempting to say that the Leafs can pull it out. At the same time Toronto isn't a good team and one of the obvious symptoms of that is that they play down to other team's levels. A solid effort against Buffalo doesn't mean we'll get that in a start against Montreal, but as a fan we have to hope.
Don't forget your SPG picks, check out Habs Inside Out if you want some Montreal coverage today, and go Leafs go!