Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Detroit Red Wings (33-26-14, 80 points) and Toronto Maple Leafs (36-31-8, 80 points) faceoff live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto for the fourth and final time this season. The game can be live streamed here. Detroit fans can hear all of the action on 97.1 The Ticket while Toronto fans can do the same on TSN 1050.
Detroit and Toronto are in a four-way tie for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit has lost three straight games while Toronto has lost seven games in a row. The Red Wings have won two of the three prior meetings this season while the Maple Leafs earned the last victory, a 3-2 triumph on March 18 in Detroit.
The Red Wings are coming off of a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens that left their coach unhappy.
"We didn't play very good, so we changed things during the game," coach Mike Babcock told The Detroit News after practice Friday.
The Maple Leafs have not only lost seven in a row, but they have dropped eight of nine as well.
"We just have to play a desperate brand of hockey," forward James van Riemsdyk (29-29-58) said per NHL.com. "Obviously, we know what's ahead of us here and how big this game is. We're fighting with these guys right there in the standings. So we can win this and kind of kick-start ourselves and go on a little run."
Along with van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel (36-41-77) and Nazem Kadri (18-30-48) pace the Maple Leafs in scoring.
The Red Wings will be without top scorer Henrik Zetterberg (16-32-48) due to a back injury while new import David Legwand (12-35-47) and Niklas Kronwall (7-37-44) lead the team.
Jimmy Howard will likely man the crease for Detroit and is 17-18-11 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage while Jonathan Bernier will likely suit up between the pipes for Toronto and is 25-18-7 with a 2.67 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
Two huge points are on the line when the Red Wings and Maple Leafs hit the ice tonight at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
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