Leafs, Red Wings battle in Hall of Fame Game
Last Updated: Saturday, November 7, 2009 | 11:27 AM ET
By Justin Piercy, CBC Sports
The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to make it two wins in a row for the first time this season when they host the Detroit Red Wings in the Hockey Hall of Fame game on Saturday. (Karl B. DeBlaker/Associated Press)The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings will renew their Original Six rivalry in front of an illustrious crowd on Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada (6:30 p.m. ET, CBC, CBCSports.ca).
A night after posting only their second win of the season, a 3-2 win against Carolina, the Maple Leafs will look for their first consecutive wins of the season under the watchful eye of this year's Hockey Hall of Fame class.
Former players Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, and builder Lou Lamiorello will be on hand for the game and will be honoured in a ceremony before puck drop.
For Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille, they'll get to watch the team they were a part of during their 2002 Stanley Cup run. The Red Wings will try not to disappoint their alumni and aim to extend a three-game winning streak when they visit the Air Canada Centre.
It's been tough sledding so far for Detroit (7-4-3), but the team seems to be adapting to the loss of some key players from last year's squad that helped them lead the NHL with 295 goals scored.
Gone are the likes of Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler — wingers who posted 82 goals last season. And due to injuries, the Red Wings also lack the services of Johan Franzen (knee) and Valtteri Filppula (wrist).
With the loss of offensive manpower comes an adaptation by coach Mike Babcock — more emphasis has been placed on defensive responsibility as the team has outscored opponents 7-2 during their winning streak.
"We're not going to win the same way we did before," Babcock said. "We don't have the team to do that."
Also helping this new defensive approach is the improved play of goalie Chris Osgood. The veteran has given up only two goals on 84 shots during the team's streak.
"He gave us confidence to play well in front of him," Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said of Osgood's performance in the 2-1 shootout win against the Sharks on Thursday.
Maple Leafs look to 'get mad'
Toronto (2-7-5) will hope to build off Friday's win in Carolina where they climbed out of a 2-0 hole after the first period on the way to snapping their four-game slide.
After the game against the Hurricanes, Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson said he wants to see more of the right type of emotion from his team.
"Whenever they scored, we seemed to sag at that point — maybe feeling sorry for ourselves," Wilson said. "We have to get mad at some point. I said to the team, 'We've only got one win in 13 games. When's somebody going to get mad?'"
Phil Kessel may not have been mad but he sure looked tired during the game, his second appearance in a Leafs uniform since returning from shoulder surgery.
"He's huffing and puffing, especially when kind of I shortened our bench," Wilson said. "I was asking, 'Can you go?' He would only go out there for 25-30 seconds and then he'd get off, but he was dangerous a few times. It's only a matter of time before the puck goes in the net for him."
Saturday's game also marks the only meeting between Wilson and Babcock, the respective head coaches of the American and Canadian Olympic squads for Vancouver in 2010.
