TORONTO -- The matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night features a pair of teams coming off bad losses on Friday.
Toronto's 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets brought out a few unlikely faces at the morning skate. Captain Dion Phaneuf, David Clarkson and Jonathan Bernier all took part as well as minor-league call-up Carter Ashton among others. With Ashton up, forward Josh Leivo was sent back to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
Bernier's appearance likely means James Reimer will get the start against the Penguins. Bernier has earned the decision in the last four games for the Maple Leafs. In Reimer's last start, he left the game just 32 seconds into the team's 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 17 after sustaining an upper-body injury in a collision with Leivo. Prior to that, he stopped 36 shots in a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 15.
One player who was not at the morning skate was Joffrey Lupul. Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said they've sent Lupul for a CT scan to see if he has more than a bruised foot. Lupul was hurt at practice on Thursday after taking a shot off his ankle. It is doubtful he will play Saturday against Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Penguins did not skate on Saturday morning after their 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders Friday night. It's expected that Marc-Andre Fleury will start against the Maple Leafs. Backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff started against the Islanders.
Here are the projected lineups for the Penguins and Maple Leafs:
PENGUINS
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Pascal Dupuis
Jussi Jokinen – Evgeni Malkin – Chuck Kobasew
Tanner Glass – Brandon Sutter – Jayson Megna
Craig Adams – Joe Vitale – Deryk Engelland
Scratched: Dustin Jeffrey, Robert Bortuzzo
Injured: Bean Bennett (lower-body), Matt D'Agostini (lower-body), James Neal (upper-body), Tomas Vokoun (hip)
MAPLE LEAFS
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Mason Raymond – Dave Bolland – David Clarkson
Jay McClement – Nazem Kadri – Troy Bodie
Frazer McLaren – Trevor Smith – Colton Orr
Dion Phaneuf – Carl Gunnarsson
Scratched: Carter Ashton
Injured: Joffrey Lupul (bruised ankle), Mark Fraser (knee), Nikolai Kulemin (chipped bone in ankle)
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