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A crucial battle in the Eastern Conference playoff race is on tap Wednesday at Air Canada Centre, as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Tampa Bay Lighting in an Atlantic Division showdown. David Bakhtiari Womens Jersey . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Tampa Bay currently holds the last of the Atlantics three automatic bids to the playoffs, but the Maple Leafs are just one point behind. Toronto is also in postseason position at the moment, occupying the first of the Easts two wild card berths. James Reimer is expected to get the call in net again for the Leafs. This is the first time the same goalie will start both games in a back-to-back for the Leafs this season. Reimer hasnt started back-to-back games since Games 6 and 7 in the playoffs last spring. Goalie Jonathan Bernier returned to the ice Wednesday and went through some light work for the first time since suffering a groin injury last week in Los Angeles. Toronto is 2-0 against the Lightning this season and has won three of four and seven of the past nine meetings in this series. Tampa Bay also has lost four in a row at Air Canada Centre. The Bolts dropped a 3-2 regulation decision in Toronto on Jan. 28 and were handed a 4-1 setback at home on Feb. 6. The clubs are set to meet once more in the regular season when the Leafs visit Tampa Bay Times Forum on April 8. The Lightning began their recent homestand with three straight losses before beating Florida, New Jersey and Vancouver to post a solid 3-1-2 mark during the stay in Central Florida. The brief surge has seen Tampa Bay log at least a point in five straight games and the Bolts would like to make it six-game point streak with another win on Wednesday. "Weve got points in five straight games at a time when we really need them," Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper remarked. "Hopefully this is good momentum for us going on the road." Tampa Bay is kicking off a three-game road trip on Wednesday and also will visit Ottawa and Pittsburgh during the swing. The Lighting are 17-16-2 as the visiting team this season. The Lightning were last in action on Monday when they notched a 4-3 regulation win over the Canucks. Ondrej Palat continued his five-game point streak with a goal and an assist to help Tampa down Vancouver. Palat, a 22-year-old Czech winger, has four goals and five assists during the run and has been a pleasant surprise for the Bolts this season, posting 18 goals and 46 points through 68 games. Steven Stamkos also registered a goal and an assist in the Lightnings third straight victory. Valtteri Filppula and Tom Pyatt also scored while goaltender Ben Bishop made 25 stops in the win. Bishop expects to start tonight for Tampa, but the former Ottawa Senator is just 2-4-0 with a 3.05 goals against average and .884 save percentage in seven career games against Toronto. Toronto has struggled of late, losing two straight and three of its last four games. The Leafs hope to get back on track Wednesday when they play the first test of a two-game homestand. The residency also includes Saturdays important divisional tilt against the rival Canadiens. The Maple Leafs are 22-11-1 as the home team this season compared to a 14-15-7 mark on the road. Toronto wrapped a five-game road trip on Tuesday with a 3-2 regulation loss in Detroit. Gustav Nyquist scored a pair of goals to lead the Red Wings to the close victory at Joe Louis Arena. Jake Gardiner and James van Riemsdyk had one goal apiece for the Maple Leafs, while James Reimer allowed all three goals on 31 shots. "It was average. There was some good and bad throughout the five games," Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri said of the teams five-game road trip. Jonathan Bernier sat out his second straight game with a strained groin and the clubs No. 1 goaltender is considered day-to-day. Reimer could get the start on back-to-back nights and is 2-3-0 with a 2.94 GAA in five career games against Tampa Bay. Drew MacIntyre, who has been serving as the backup with Bernier sidelined, has not seen action in an NHL game since making two appearances with Buffalo during the 2011-12 season. After winning the final three tests of a six-game homestand, the Lightning hope to carry some momentum on the road for tonights important clash. So far in 2013-14, however, Tampa Bay has come up empty against the Maple Leafs. Richard Rodgers Jersey . Louis Blues remain at the top spot of the TSN. Bryan Bulaga Womens Jersey . - Former NFL safety Darren Sharper pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he drugged and raped two women he met at a West Hollywood night club, while the emergence of a new accuser in Florida left him under investigation in five states.LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Aaron Harrison scored 19 of his 28 points in the first half and No. 1 Kentucky started all freshmen for the first time in rolling to an 87-49 victory over Robert Morris on Sunday night. After three games of starting four freshmen around sophomore 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein, coach John Calipari rolled out a rookie lineup of Harrison and twin brother Andrew, James Young, Marcus Lee and Julius Randle. That look lasted just 51 seconds as Cauley-Stein replaced Lee, but the Wildcats (3-1) used other combinations of highly touted recruits. Harrison ended up grabbing the spotlight instead of leading scorer Randle, shooting 7 of 12 from the field and making all 10 free throws. He also had four rebounds and three assists. Randle added 10 points and 15 rebounds and Young had 10 points in the rematch of last springs NIT game won by Robert Morris. The game quickly turned into a mismatch as the bigger, faster, Wildcats jumped out to a 17-2 lead and led by as 40 points. Kentucky shot 28 of 57 from the field (49 per cent), outrebounded the Colonials 56-33 and dominated the inside 36-16. Cauley-Stein finished with a career-high 13 rebounds, and Andrew Harrison had eight points. Karvel Andersons 16 points led Robert Morris (2-2), which shot just 16 of 69 (23 per cent). The game itself was intriguing with the Wildcats facing the team that ousted them from the NIT with a 59-57 NIT loss outside Pittsburgh in March, sparking Colonials fans to storm the small home court in celebration. In many ways that contest typified Kentuckys disappointing and inconsistent season witth a four-man group including big man Nerlens Noel -- whose season-ending knee injury hastened the downfall -- and guard Archie Noel. Morgan Burnett Womens Jersey. Both are now gone to the NBA. Calipari hasnt watched the tape of that game, but the lingering memory of the loss stayed with veterans such as Jon Hood up until practice. As for this years eight-man crop of talented newcomers, they were trying to get over Tuesdays 78-74 loss to No. 2 Michigan State in Chicago. On both counts, the Wildcats succeeded quite easily. Kentucky faced a Robert Morris lineup featuring three returning starters from that game plus leading scorer Karvel Anderson, but the Colonials played nothing like last springs upset-minded squad. They started 1 of 10 from the field, and that first basket came on Aaron Tates jumper at the 11:36 mark. By then the Wildcats were up 17-4 and rolling toward a 44-20 halftime lead built on Aaron Harrisons hot start including 4-of-8 shooting and eight free throws. Everybody else was 9 of 22 as Kentucky shot just 43 per cent and committed 10 turnovers, none of which mattered because the Colonials were just 6 of 30 (20 per cent). What pleased Calipari was his teams 29-14 rebounding advantage including a 12-8 edge offensively. Cauley-Stein had 10 and Randle eight, just what the coach wanted to see. Then again, Kentucky had something to prove, none of which involved getting revenge against Robert Morris. Though the sting of Tuesdays loss subsided, the disappointment was something the Wildcats didnt want to feel again and thoroughly proved that against Robert Morris. cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
