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Bruins-Maple Leafs Preview

Dec 19, 2009 - 6:15 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Boston (16-10-6) at Toronto (12-15-7), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Phil Kessel hasn't found any success in his first two visits against his former team. Perhaps that will change when he faces the Boston Bruins for the first time in his new home.

Kessel will try to help the Toronto Maple Leafs end a seven-game skid against the Bruins when the Northeast Division rivals meet for the third time Saturday night.

Toronto (12-16-7) acquired the talented winger from Boston on Sept. 18 for three draft picks after Kessel clashed with the Bruins' front office. Boston drafted him fifth overall in 2006 and he led the club with 36 goals last season as the club clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Kessel was booed every time he touched the puck in losses at Boston (16-10-7) earlier this month - 7-2 on Dec. 5 and 5-2 five days later. Marc Savard and Mark Recchi each totaled three goals for Boston.

The Bruins won all three visits at the Air Canada Centre in 2008-09 and have scored 38 goals during their seven-game run over Toronto.

Kessel, though, has three goals and two assists in a three-game point streak at home, where the Maple Leafs have won four of their last five.

Toronto is trying to avoid losing three straight overall after a 5-2 loss at Buffalo on Friday. Vesa Toskala, making his seventh straight start, was pulled after allowing four second-period goals on six shots, misplaying an easy shot by light-scoring defenseman Toni Lydman for the go-ahead goal.

"When you make a mistake like that, you've got to buckle down. Unfortunately (Toskala) didn't," coach Ron Wilson said.

Rookie Jonas Gustavsson replaced Toskala - who allowed five goals Wednesday in a 6-2 home loss to Phoenix - and stopped 16 of 17 shots in his first appearance since undergoing a heart procedure earlier this month.

Wilson did not say who would start Saturday.

Fellow rookie Viktor Stalberg scored his first NHL goal Friday and Lee Stempniak added his ninth for Toronto, but Kessel had his three-game point-streak snapped.

Boston fell to 1-0-2 in its last three games after opening a three-game road trip with a 5-4 shootout loss to Chicago on Friday. David Krejci scored twice, including the tying goal with 2:43 left in regulation that helped the Bruins rally from their third one-goal deficit of the contest.

"We showed some guts coming back and tying it up," goaltender Tim Thomas said.

Krejci has four goals and three assists in his last five games. He also has five goals and seven assists during the winning streak over the Maple Leafs.

Thomas, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, is 6-1-0 with a 2.82 goals-against average in his last seven starts against Toronto. Backup Tuukka Rask - a first-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2005 - allowed a total of four goals while beating Toronto twice this month.