Devils at Maple Leafs
Mark Fraser could be in line to make his return against his former team on Friday, when the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the visiting New Jersey Devils for the Hall-of-Fame Game. The defenseman has been sidelined with a knee injury since the first week of the season but could join fellow ex-Devil David Clarkson on the ice. "There's been no real hard-copy memo sent my way," Fraser said of a potential return. "But I think between myself and the coaching staff and the training staff, I think that we all feel like I'm comfortable to get back in it."
The Maple Leafs have been idle since their three-game winning streak came to an end with a 4-0 setback to Vancouver on Saturday. Toronto will need to avoid looking ahead to Saturday's energy-charged rematch with Original Six-rival Boston, which rallied in historic fashion to eliminate the Maple Leafs in the first round of last season's playoffs. After getting shut out in consecutive contests, New Jersey turned the tables and posted a 3-0 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), TSN, RDS2 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (4-7-4): After Martin Brodeur recorded his 122nd career shutout - and 12th versus the Flyers - the future Hall-of-Famer joked that he hoped coach Peter DeBoer was keeping his word by having Cory Schneider play against Toronto. "I talked a lot of trash to (Clarkson)," Brodeur said following his 22-save performance. Defenseman Eric Gelinas required crutches following Thursday's contest, but X-rays were negative on his left foot.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (10-5-0): Should Fraser return from a 13-game absence, coach Randy Carylye will need to sit one of his defensemen. A likely candidate could be prized 19-year-old rookie Morgan Rielly, who logged a season-low 14 minutes against the Canucks. After collecting 97 goals and 74 assists in 426 games with the Devils, Clarkson has endured a slow start out of the gate in Toronto with just one assist and 18 penalty minutes in five contests.
OVERTIME
1. Former Devils Brendan Shanahan and Scott Niedermayer are among the five inductees for the 2013 class of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Chris Chelios, retired female player Geraldine Heaney and late ex-coach Fred Shero also will be honored.
2. C Jerred Smithson, 34, signed a one-year contract with Toronto on Wednesday and is expected to play on the fourth line against the Devils..
3. New Jersey has struggled in the latter half of back-to-back contests, posting an 0-1-2 mark this season.