Maple Leafs at Rangers
After yielding nine goals en route to a pair of home losses, the Toronto Maple Leafs look to alter their fortunes when they hit the road to face the New York Rangers on Sunday. Perhaps leaving Toronto is best for the club, which saw one fan give up his jersey and throw it on the ice midway through the third period of a 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday. "When a fan does that, they're frustrated - as are we," Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said. "... We take responsibility for not giving them what they want. They want to see wins, as do we."
Rick Nash continued his strong start by scoring his third goal of the season against his former team in New York's 5-2 loss to Columbus on Saturday. Cam Talbot won both of his meetings with Toronto last season, but Henrik Lundqvist is expected to be in net Sunday after sitting out versus the Blue Jackets. The Swedish Olympian should keep a keen eye on Tyler Bozak, who has scored twice this season and also converted a penalty shot and netted the overtime winner in the Maple Leafs' 3-2 win over the Rangers on March 5.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, TVA, CITY (Toronto), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (0-2-0): Toronto coach Randy Carlyle was none-too-pleased with the effort he received from his stars, ultimately demoting Phil Kessel (zero points, minus-2 this season) and James van Riemsdyk (zero points, minus-2) from the top line to begin the third period. "When the tide of the game turned against our team so hard, we had no answer," Carlyle said. "You turn to your best players in that situation, and they didn't have any answers." If one's looking for positives, rookie defenseman Stuart Percy has notched an assist in each of his first two games.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (1-1-0): While Carlyle was searching for answers, New York coach Alain Vigneault was left with questions after his team's performance versus Columbus. "There were a lot of 50-50 pucks that they got to," he said. "Was that because they were quicker than we were? Or that they wanted it more?" Offseason addition Lee Stempniak scored on Saturday and rookie Anthony Duclair notched a pair of assists for his first career NHL points.
OVERTIME
1. The Rangers' 2013-14 Eastern Conference championship banner will hang from the rafters prior to the fans' entrance into Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
2. New York has killed off all nine short-handed situations in the first two games and 26 consecutive penalties dating back to the 2013-14 regular season.
3. Maple Leafs D Cody Franson was able to participate in warmups on Saturday but missed his second straight contest with a bruised knee.