SPORTSNET.CA
It'll be a case of new player, new goalie for the Maple Leafs as the team tries to snap a three-game slide against the Atlanta Thrashers at home on Tuesday night.
Curtis Joseph will make his third start of the season on Tuesday when the also winless in three Thrashers arrive in town. Joseph is 6-4 with one shutout and a 2.99 GAA in 10 games versus Atlanta. Toskala has allowed 12 goals in his last three starts and has posted a record of 0-2-1 with a .821 save percentage.
Lee Stempniak, who was acquired in a trade with St. Louis on Monday, passed his physical on Tuesday morning and will wear No. 12. He is expected to make his debut as Carlo Colaiacovo and Alexander Steen both passed physicals in St. Louis. The 25-year-old Stempniak is capable of playing on one of the team's top two forward lines but is projected to skate with veteran Jason Blake and Dominic Moore on the third line.
The Leafs did not skate on Tuesday but the projected lines are as follows:
Forwards: Antropov/Stajan/Ponikarovsky
Kulemin/Grabovski/Hagman
Stempniak/Moore/Blake
Hollweg/Mitchell/Mayers
Defence:
Kubina Schenn
Kaberle Finger
Stralman White
The team will be without defenceman Jonas Frogren (hyper-extended his elbow) for at least four weeks.
