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ANAHEIM — Goaltender Vesa Toskala will return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup on Wednesday night in a game against the Anaheim Ducks.
"I'll just try to keep playing the same way as I did before I got a little hurt," Toskala said after the Leafs' game-day skate at the Honda Center Wednesday morning. "I had two or three really good practices and I feel I'm ready to go."
After Toskala came down with strained groin muscles just before Christmas, the Leafs went 1-4-1 in six NHL games. The confidence they played with in front of Toskala evaporated and now all concerned are hoping his return will cure another Leaf swoon. The goaltender thinks it's better if he tries to play goal rather than the hero.
"You just try to play your old game," Toskala said. "You can't try to win games by yourself so I just focus on things I do best and go from there."
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Toskala brushed aside suggestions the Leafs recent slide had anything to do with his absence.
"On those losses you can't blame goalies," he said. "We haven't scored a lot of goals. Over all, we haven't played that well. Hopefully, we can start something now."
Leafs head coach Paul Maurice said Toskala will not play Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings. The team wants to exercise caution, although he will get the start on Saturday night against his former team, the San Jose Sharks, barring any further problems with his groin muscles.
"We want to make sure the day after he plays he gets the rest he needs," Maurice said.
The Leafs will also need a strong effort from everyone else on the ice, as the Ducks are a large, skilled team that likes to keep a lot of traffic around the opposition's net. However, Maurice said, the Leafs should allow Toskala to see a few pucks early in the game.
"We've got to make sure we're not playing at the other end only," the coach said. "We have to get him a feel for the game early and take it from there."
Thanks to his years with the Sharks, Toskala knows all he needs to about the Ducks and their arena. But that does not mean it's an advantage, he claims.
"I know a lot of players from that team," he said. "I don't know if that helps. Yeah, they [crash the crease] but they are also a fast team and skilled team. Over all, it will be a good test for us. We're playing one of the best teams in the league."
