At the Rink: Wild at Maple Leafs

There hasn't been a lot to celebrate in Toronto recently but there will be a pregame ceremony to honor Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Eric Brewer for playing in his 1,000th career game Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.

Entering the Maple Leafs' game against the Minnesota Wild on Monday, Brewer has 75 goals and 267 points in 1,000 games with six teams. But since coming to the Maple Leafs in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on March 2, Brewer has one assist and a minus-9 rating in nine games.

Those numbers led him to come up with a unique use for the silver stick he'll receive from the NHL for reaching the 1,000-game milestone.

"Should probably use it the way I've been handling the puck," Brewer said in a video posted on the Maple Leafs website.

Brewer isn't the only Maple Leafs player in a scoring slump. Phil Kessel has one goal in 12 games; James van Riemsdyk has two goals in 13 games; Tyler Bozak has two goals in 12 games; Joffrey Lupul has gone without a point in 17 games and without a goal in 21 games.

They'll be facing goalie Devan Dubnyk, who will make his 31st straight start for the Wild. Dubnyk has won three of his past four games, and ranks in the top four in the League with a 2.12 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.

"We're going to have to spend more time with traffic and take [Dubnyk's] eyes away," Maple Leafs interim coach Peter Horachek said. "He's a big man, covers a lot of the net. You've got to spend more time around the net, make it harder for him to see the puck, create some second opportunities."

The Wild have won eight in a row away from home and coach Mike Yeo said the credit should go to how his players have prepared themselves.

"Every team you play is different, every building you play in is different," Yeo said in a video posted on the Wild website. "But how you prepare shouldn't be. Regardless of our opponent, where we're playing, we're approaching every game the right way, with a good understanding of how we have to play the game. Tonight it's Toronto but it shouldn't change."

Here are the projected lineups:

WILD

Zach Parise - Mikael Granlund - Jason Pominville

Nino Niederreiter - Mikko Koivu - Chris Stewart

Thomas Vanek - Charlie Coyle - Justin Fontaine

Sean Bergenheim - Erik Haula - Kyle Brodziak

Ryan Suter - Jonas Brodin

Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon

Jordan Leopold - Matt Dumba

Devan Dubnyk

Niklas Backstrom

Scratched: Jordan Schroeder, Darcy Kuemper, Christian Folin, Ryan Carter

Injured: Nate Prosser (lower body), Matt Cooke (sports hernia), Jason Zucker (clavicle), Keith Ballard (concussion/facial fractures)

MAPLE LEAFS

James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel

Joffrey Lupul - Trevor Smith - David Booth

Zach Sill - Leo Komarov - Richard Panik

Joakim Lindstrom - Trevor Carrick - Brandon Kozun

Eric Brewer - Dion Phaneuf

Jake Gardiner - Morgan Rielly

Andrew MacWilliam - Tim Erixon

Jonathan Bernier

James Reimer

Scratched: None

Suspended: Nazem Kadri

Injured: Stephane Robidas (shoulder), Roman Polak (abdominal surgery), Peter Holland (lower body)

Status report: Carter was cleared to play but won't be in the lineup Monday. He last played Feb. 9 because of an upper-body injury. Yeo said there's a chance he plays Tuesday at the New York Islanders. … Bernier will start his fifth straight game. He's 0-4-0 in his previous four starts.

Who's hot: Parise has three goals and 10 points in his past nine games. … Sill had an assist Saturday against Ottawa, his first point with the Maple Leafs.