Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs (36-25-8, 80 points) and Detroit Red Wings (30-24-13, 73 points) skate against each other for the third of four meetings against each other live from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The game can be live streamed here. Toronto fans can hear all of the action on TSN 1050 while Detroit fans can do the same on 97.1 The Ticket.
Toronto is holding onto a wild-card spot in the playoffs and has won four of its last six games while Detroit has lost three of its last four games and is in danger of missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 23 years. These teams have swapped wins with the Red Wings winning 5-4 in a shootout on Dec. 21 in Toronto while the Maple Leafs picked up a 3-2 shootout win in the Winter Classic in Detroit on Jan. 1.
With goaltender Jonathan Bernier (lower-body) day-to-day, James Reimer will start for the Maple Leafs tonight.
"You want to be there for your team when they need you whether it's every night or every other night," Reimer said via NHL.com. "Right now I'm just focused on winning the game [Tuesday] and if I do something in the next couple of days -- or for however long Bernies out -- to impress people, well then that's great. But it's a process and I'm just trying to get better."
Reimer is 11-9-1 this season with a 3.22 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. He'll likely be opposed by Jimmy Howard, who is 14-16-10 with a 2.64 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
The Red Wings have dealt with a rash of injuries this season, forcing coach Mike Babcock to move defenseman Brendan Smith up to forward for tonight's game.
"Why? Because I think it gives us the best chance to win," Babcock told NHL.com about the move. "With the amount of injuries we have, we feel that gives us the best opportunities."
Detroit is without top scorer Henrik Zetterberg (16-32-48) due to a back injury. New import David Legwand leads the team with 44 points off of 11 goals and 33 assists in Zetterberg's absence while Niklas Kronwall has seven tallies and 34 helpers for 41 points.
Phil Kessel paces Toronto with 73 points off of 34 goals and 39 assists while James van Riemsdyk has 26 tallies and 29 helpers for 55 points and Nazem Kadri has lit the lamp 17 times while adding 29 assists for 46 points.
Two Original Six teams clash when the Maple Leafs and Red Wings hit the ice at the Joe Louis Arena tonight in Detroit.
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