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Bruins-Maple Leafs Preview

Mar 9, 2010 - 4:33 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Boston (29-24-11) at Toronto (20-33-12), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Boston Bruins were hoping to use the post-Olympic portion of the NHL schedule to begin to show some consistency and start peaking heading into the playoffs.

Instead, they're stuck dealing a familiar problem - an injury to Marc Savard.

The two time All-Star is out indefinitely after suffering a concussion from a brutal blindside hit in Boston's latest game, leaving the Bruins to continue their seven-game road trip Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs without their top forward.

Savard led the Bruins with 88 points in 2008-09 while being named to his second straight All-Star team, and played all 82 games to guide Boston to the Eastern Conference's top regular-season record.

A broken left foot and, later, a partially torn MCL have left the Bruins (29-24-11) without Savard for 23 games this season, and he's about to miss some more action. Savard was carted off the ice after suffering a grade two concussion while being leveled by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke in a 2-1 loss Sunday, sidelining him after what coach Claude Julien felt was a cheap shot.

"A guy like that has to be suspended," Julien said. "... We got a guy who's got a concussion, our best player, and he's going to be out for a while. He was out on the ice for a bit and that's unacceptable."

There's no timetable for Savard's return to the ice. The Bruins' medical staff will spend the next four to five days monitoring him before updating his prognosis.

While the loss of Savard hurts an already thin group up front - Boston is the only team in the NHL without a 40-point scorer - there's better news on the back end. Goaltender Tuukka Rask, a 2005 first-round pick of the Maple Leafs (20-33-12), returned to practice Monday after missing three games due to a lower-body injury.

Rask, 2-1-0 with a 2.01 GAA this season versus Toronto, could return to face his former organization, though Julien hasn't named a starter yet.

"The last two days have been perfect," Rask, whose 2.15 goals-against average is second in the NHL behind Buffalo's Ryan Miller, told the Bruins' official Web site Monday. "So, it was better to take some time off and let it calm down and now if feels 100 percent, so everything is good."

Should Julien opt to start Tim Thomas for a fourth straight game, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner is 7-1-0 with a 2.68 GAA in his last eight starts against the Leafs.

Toronto is back home for three games after going 1-1-1 on a three-game road trip that included a 3-2 shootout loss to Thomas and the Bruins on Thursday.

The Leafs were shut out in their last game before the Olympic break and have scored six goals in four games since, including a 3-1 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday.

Toronto took 33 penalty minutes and allowed the Flyers two 5-on-3s in the first period - the latter they converted for the game's first goal.

"If you give them so many opportunities eventually it's going to bite you in the rear," said winger Luca Caputi, a Toronto native set to make his home debut Tuesday after being acquired from Pittsburgh last week. "I feel like we were just looking for a better effort all around."

The Leafs, meanwhile, are 0 for 25 with the man advantage in their last five games.

Former Bruin Phil Kessel, traded to Toronto in September, doesn't have a point in four games against his former team.