Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-1-0, 6 points) will try to continue their hot start to the 2013-2014 season against the Nashville Predators (1-2-0, 2 points) at Bridgestone Arena. Live stream the game here; Maple Leafs fans can listen to the action on TSN Radio 150, while Predators fans can catch the radio broadcast on 102.5 The Game.
The Leafs are battling several injuries, plus a suspension to right-winger David Clarkson. "You're going to have to deal with adversity throughout the course of the season," said Randy Carlyle. "And injuries and birth of children, family illness -- all those things roll into the things that you have to deal with. We're no different than anybody else."
Another right winger, Joffrey Lupul, missed Toronto's last game with a calf ailment that Carlyle said isn't considered serious. "It's nothing other than a bruise. He's day-to-day," Carlyle said. "It'll be dependent on how he feels. He'll make the trip with us. We haven't made a determination. Hopefully, the swelling will subside and he'll be back to normal."
The Predators picked up their first win of the year on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, and now are hoping to build on the high emotion. "It's always nice to win the first one and try to build some confidence, some good things and keep moving forward when we're at home because we're going to be on the road quite a while," said defenseman and captain Shea Webber.
Eight-year pro Eric Nystrom scored his first-ever penalty goal in the victory. "You couldn't have scripted it any better to score a goal like that, kind of dramatic fashion and ended up being the game winner against your former team," Nystrom said. "It was pretty exciting. It was fun to play here and get our first win of the season."
In last season's lockout-shortened year, the Predators were next to last in the Western conference, finishing out the campaign with a 16-23-9 record and 41 points, plopping them fourth from the bottom.
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