Rangers at Maple Leafs
THE STORY: The New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs both hope to begin a new winning streak when they face off at Air Canada Centre on Saturday. New York suffered its first loss in six games Thursday at home against the Ottawa Senators, while Toronto had its four-game winning streak snapped Friday in Buffalo. The Rangers have had plenty of success on the road of late, winning three in a row and nine of 11. They have captured 10 of their last 12 contests overall. Toronto is beginning a five-game stretch at home, where it has won five straight. The Maple Leafs have beaten the Rangers twice already this season, both times by a 4-2 score.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, MSG 2, CBC
ABOUT THE RANGERS (27-10-4): Brian Boyle is mired in a 22-game goal-scoring drought. The center, who has just two tallies this season after netting a career-high 21 in 2010-11, has not scored since Nov. 25 at Washington. Left wing Brandon Dubinsky is questionable after missing Thursday's loss with a shoulder injury. Center Erik Christensen, who has not played since Dec. 17, accepted a minor league conditioning assignment with Connecticut of the AHL and registered one shot on goal in Friday's loss to Norfolk.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (22-16-5): Rumor has it the Maple Leafs will participate in the 2013 Winter Classic against the Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The stadium set a record outdoor attendance of 104,173 for a college game between Michigan State and the University of Michigan in 2010 and is reported to have a capacity of 115,000 for next year's Winter Classic. Several reports have Toronto and Philadelphia talking about a trade that would send defenseman Luke Schenn in a package to the Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. Schenn's younger brother Brayden was acquired by Philadelphia from Los Angeles over the summer.
OVERTIME:
1. The Maple Leafs have won five of their last six games against Atlantic Division opponents.
2. The road team has captured five of the last six meetings in the all-time series.
PREDICTION: Rangers 4, Maple Leafs 1.