Coming off a 4-3 heart stopper in Nashville last night, the Leafs travel 250 miles down Interstates 24 and 75 to face the slumping Atlanta Thrashers. After starting off the season well, the Thrashers have only three wins since the Christmas break. To put that into comparison, the Maple Leafs have won four. Yikes.
Goal scoring has been anything but consistent for Atlanta; with totals of 1, 6, 1, 5, and 0 in their 5 games leading up to tonight, so expect the Leafs to have to put up half a dozen or more to come out on top in this one. This is made even more true when you look at the starting goalies for tonight's game as Jonas Siegel, via Twitter, is expecting Vesa Toskala to get the start for the Buds. In the other crease, the Thrashers' radio announcer Dan Kamal is reporting that Ondrej Pavelec gets the nod. Fortunately for Toronto, Pavelec is no Ryan Miller, as his 3.47 GAA and .904 save percentage can attest. So definitely expect this game to be a shootout with a double digit goal total.
Before the hostilities begin, be sure to travel on over to the Thrashers SBNation blog Bird Watchers Anonymous and have a look at the game from their side of the red line.
Also of note, Operation Give SBNation Money to Haiti is still in full effect over at the Columbus Blue Jackets blog The Cannon, as the people there have pledged to donate $0.05 for every game related comment in their Game Day Thread tonight as the Blue Jackets face The Flyers. So if you're able to watch the game be sure to head over there and scare the living bejeesus out of the site much like you all did here last night. Every good comment helps.
Gametime is 7:00pm Eastern. Don't forget your SPG picks and GO LEAFS GO!
