TORONTO -- Garret Sparks will make his NHL debut in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs (7-11-5) when they host the Edmonton Oilers (8-14-2) at Air Canada Centre on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SN).

Sparks, 22, was recalled from Toronto of the American Hockey League on Saturday to replace an injured James Reimer in the lineup. He was the backup to Jonathan Bernier as Toronto lost 4-2 to the Washington Capitals.

Sparks is 8-2-1 with a 1.90 goals-against average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts in 11 games. His save percentage is second in the AHL and his GAA is fourth.

"I'm excited," said Sparks, a seventh-round pick (No. 190) at the 2011 NHL Draft. He has split the past two seasons between Toronto of the AHL and Orlando of the ECHL. He was the AHL Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 8. "I have been playing hockey for a long time and this is the coolest thing that has come of it yet so I am very excited. I'm just trying to stay composed so I can play my game tonight and do the things that got me here."

TORONTO -- Jonathan Bernier will try to earn his first win of the season when the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Washington Capitals at Air Canada Centre on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, CSN-DC+).

Asked what kind of an opportunity this is for Bernier, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock was emphatic in his answer.

"Huge, I'd say. I'd grab it if I was him," Babcock said.

Bernier started the season as the Maple Leafs' No. 1 goalie, but that role has since been claimed by James Reimer, who started 11 of the past 12 games. Reimer, however, will miss the game with a lower-body injury. He was injured in practice on Tuesday, missed practice Wednesday and after practicing Friday did not participate in the morning skate.

TORONTO -- Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer said he believes the key to a good end result lies in having a good start.

Reimer, who will make his 11th start in the past 12 games, thinks the Maple Leafs (7-10-4) need to come out strong when they host the Boston Bruins (10-8-1) at Air Canada Centre on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, NESN, TSN4).

The teams played Saturday, a 2-0 Bruins win at TD Garden in Boston.

"I think we need a better start," Reimer said Monday. "I don't think we were happy with our start last game. We have to keep working hard. It was anybody's game the other night and if we can clean up a few things then hopefully we'll have a better outcome."

TORONTO – Goalie James Reimer will start for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday at Air Canada Centre.

Reimer, named the NHL's third star for the week ending Nov. 15, has won three straight. Jonathan Bernier played in a 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Reimer doesn't believe having Sunday off will hurt his ability to continue playing at a high level.

"I don't think it will affect me," Reimer said. "It's one of those things where I have been feeling good so I'll just try to keep the good feeling going. We have been playing really well as a team and when that happens everyone has success."

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs' group of centers hope they can break out of a season-long scoring slump when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Air Canada Centre on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC).

Although the Maple Leafs have points in four straight games (2-0-2), their centers have struggled to find the net. Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Peter Holland, Nick Spaling and Byron Froese have combined to play 62 games this season but have scored five goals. Holland has been shifted to right wing.

"I think we're getting a lot of good looks. It's just a matter of us putting them in," said Kadri, who has one goal in 16 games but is third in the League with a Maple Leafs-high 70 shots on goal. "We've had some bad breaks. But at the same time we're finding ways to win games lately and it's going to be even better once we find ways to put the puck in the back of the net."

Toronto coach Mike Babcock has been complimentary of Kadri's overall performance.

"This is my two cents on [Kadri]," he said. "He has been in my opinion the best forward on our team. He competes every night. He's in on all the chances. He generates a ton. He's a way better player than I expected. In the 100-mile journey he's on mile 25. He's going to get way better as long as he competes. If he wants to be good he's going to be good. It's up to him."

TORONTO -- Nicklas Lidstrom said there is an old saying in Sweden that, when translated to English, means, "Things never turn out the way you imagined."

Lidstrom said that is reflective of his hockey career.

Lidstrom said he grew up like most kids shooting pucks in the backyard, playing at the local rink and dreaming of scoring the big goal in the championship game.

"But for all the dreams I had playing hockey as a child, I never imagined a night like this," Lidstrom said. "As kids who learn to fall in love with the game all the way through to being a professional, you play with one thing in mind: To win. Win the medal, win the Cup, win the series, the game. …every night you try your best to win, but you can't win this. You can't win the Hall of Fame. It's an honor that we have no control over and one I could never imagine as a kid shooting pucks in the driveway."

TORONTO -- During his 15 years as the chairman and CEO of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Bill Hay handed out 61 plaques to honored inductees.

Not one of them, he said, ever read what was written on their plaque.

So when Hay received his plaque from chairman John Davidson as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2015, the first thing he did was read it to the audience.

The plaque highlighted his long career as a player and builder. One year after helping Colorado College win the NCAA championship in 1960, he joined the Chicago Blackhawks and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup that season.

TORONTO -- When you have a team full of future Hall of Famers, winning is expected.

On the day when two former members of the Detroit Red Wings, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and center Sergei Fedorov, were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Jim Devellano reminisced about the 2001-02 season. Detroit won its third of four Stanley Cups between 1997 and 2008.

"For [general manager] Ken Holland and myself, we were very nervous," Devellano, the Senior Vice President of the Red Wings said. "If we didn't win with that team. …holy cow! I mean we had Brett Hull, Dominik Hasek, Luc Robitaille, Igor Larionov, [Steve] Yzerman, Fedorov, Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan and Scotty Bowman. What a crew."

TORONTO -- When Borje Salming broke into the NHL as a defenseman with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1973, he was targeted by the League's toughest players; first because they wanted to see if he could stand up to physical abuse, but also because some players felt Europeans were stealing their jobs.

But with the speed and skill throughout the League in today's game, fighting in the NHL has been reduced to the point that a month into the season there are still three teams that do not have a single fighting major penalty.

"It probably would have been much better for me," Salming, 64, said Monday. "I used to say to people that Inge Hammarstrom, who came to Toronto with me, would have been great in today's game. When he came in he scored 20 goals, but he had exceptional skills and skating.

"I love today's game. That is the way hockey should be played."

TORONTO -- If this generation of young stars in the NHL feel they need a spokesman, they may have one in Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill.

Nill should know; he has two skating on his top line in forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. But he believes there are many others across the League.

"Guys like (Edmonton Oilers center) Connor McDavid or our guys, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, these guys are elite athletes," Nill said Monday. "I think the young players today might be even better than the younger players from 20 years ago. They are more worldly. They have all [played] on national junior teams and the pressure doesn't seem to get to them. These guys are driven. Our game has never been better."