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Posted by
on 12/02/2008 - 04:14 PM
Sports Network) - Toronto head coach Ron Wilson makes his return to San Jose tonight, as the Maple Leafs visit the Sharks at HP Pavilion.
Wilson took over as head coach of San Jose during the 2002-03 season and then helped engineer a quick turnaround. After finishing that season in last place in the Pacific Division, Wilson's Sharks never finished lower than second place over the next four seasons and he is the club's all-time leader in wins with 206.
Wilson, who guided the Sharks to three 100-point seasons over his four-plus campaigns there, failed to get San Jose past the second round in each of the last three playoffs. That led to his firing in May, and he joined Toronto months later.
San Jose, meanwhile, replaced Wilson with Todd McLellan.
The Maple Leafs weren't done reshaping, as they hired Brian Burke as their new general manager on Saturday. Toronto has won both games since the hiring to halt a five-game losing streak, winning Monday's test versus the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1.
Matt Stajan, playing despite flu-like symptoms, and Mikhail Grabovski scored power-play goals 81 seconds apart in the third frame and Jeff Finger iced things with an empty-net goal. Vesa Toskala came up huge by stopping 32 shots, including all 26 he faced over the final two periods.
The win came in the opener of a three-game road trip that wraps in Phoenix on Thursday. The Maple Leafs are 5-5-2 as the road team this year.
Toskala will play the Sharks for just the second time since the club traded him to Toronto prior to last season. Originally a fourth-round pick by the Sharks in the 1995 draft, Toskala went 65-28-5 with five ties and a 2.35 goals against average in 115 games with San Jose.
However, he lost his first start against them last year, allowing three goals.
The loss was Toronto's second straight to the Sharks, and it hasn't won in San Jose since March 26, 1997. The Leafs are 0-2 with two ties in four meetings out west since.
The Leafs will be without forward Jamal Mayers who left Monday's game after breaking a bone in his hand in a collision with the goalpost.
"Something happened, it just didn't feel right for the rest of the period,” Mayers said. “I got an x-ray and realized it was broken."
Wilson said he expects Mayers to miss 3-4 weeks.
The Sharks continue to play red hot, as their 3-2 win over Phoenix was their season-high tying seventh in a row. They also won seven straight from October 25-Novemver 8.
The Sharks have also still yet to lose in regulation at home, going 12-0-1 at HP Pavilion.
Joe Pavelski scored twice and Rob Blake added a goal of his own to run his points streak to five games. He has three goals and five helpers in that span. Milan Michalek tallied two assists for the Sharks, who lead the NHL with 41 points.
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 18-of-20 shots to get the win and he is 1-0-1 with a 2.40 GAA in two career starts versus the Maple Leafs.
Sports Network) - Toronto head coach Ron Wilson makes his return to San Jose tonight, as the Maple Leafs visit the Sharks at HP Pavilion.