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Maple Leafs visit rival Canadiens

Nov 20, 2010 - 3:47 PM (Sports Network) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will aim for their first three-game winning streak since the start of the season when they visit the rival Montreal Canadiens tonight at Bell Centre.

The Maple Leafs have won just three games since starting the season with four straight victories and two of those positive results have come in Toronto's last two trips to the ice. The Leafs notched a 5-4 win over visiting Nashville on Tuesday and closed a three-game homestand with Thursday's 3-1 decision over New Jersey.

They will try to keep heading in the right direction tonight against their fiercest rival. Toronto posted a 3-2 regulation win when it faced the Canadiens at Air Canada Centre back on Oct. 7 and the Leafs have taken three straight, four of five and six of the last 10 meetings in this series.

Toronto has also had success recently in Montreal, winning two straight and four of its last five games at the Bell Centre.

The Maple Leafs were led by Jonas Gustavsson in Thursday's win, as the Swedish netminder made 29 saves to lead Toronto past the Devils.

Gustavsson is expected to be Toronto's main goaltender while Jean-Sebastien Giguere is sidelined with a groin injury. Giguere, who has been replaced on the roster by James Reimer, is expected to miss one-to-two weeks with the injury suffered Tuesday against Nashville.

Mikhail Grabovski, Phil Kessel and Kris Versteeg potted goals for the Leafs, who had lost eight straight prior to this two-game stretch.

"We've had a lot of guys that have really been finding the back of the net in the last few games," Versteeg said. "When some guys haven't been going, some other guys have been. We can't have dry periods where guys aren't getting the job done. We have to put the pedal to the medal and keep it going."

Also on Thursday, Toronto head coach Ron Wilson earned his 589th career win to pass former Devils, Wild and Canadiens head coach Jacques Lemaire and move into seventh place on the NHL's all-time list. Wilson has earned 71 of his wins with the Leafs.

The Canadiens will try to get back on track tonight after having a four-game winning streak halted with Thursday's shut-out loss against a visiting Predators team. The 3-0 setback marked the third time Montreal has been blanked this year.

Marcel Goc scored two goals and Pekka Rinne made 30 saves to record his second shutout of the season for Nashville. Carey Price stopped 27 shots for Montreal, dropping him to 11-6-1 on the season.

"We just weren't ready to play and obviously it showed," said Montreal captain Brian Gionta.

Canadiens defenseman Jaroslav Spacek suffered a face injury when he fell into the boards on Thursday and is questionable for this evening's contest.

Montreal enters tonight with a 6-4-1 record on home ice this season, while the Leafs are just 2-4-1 as the guest.