EASTERN CONFERENCEPREVIEW*--* Toronto Maple Leafs (43-25-10-4, 4th)...

EASTERN CONFERENCE

PREVIEW

*--* Toronto Maple Leafs (43-25-10-4, 4th) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (35-26-16-5, 3rd) Schedule: Tonight, Sun., Tue., May 23, 25*, 28*, 30* (*-if necessary) Head to head: Tied, 2-2. Teams have never faced each other in postseason Recent playoff history: Tor: 2001, def. Ottawa, 4-0, lost to New Jersey, 4-3; Car: 2001, lost to New Jersey, 4-2 Series preview: The Maple Leafs may be the sentimental favorite to reach the Stanley Cup finals because of their Canada roots but the Hurricanes will be tough to beat. Carolina solved two of the league’s top goaltenders in New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and Montreal’s Jose Theodore Late-season acquisitions: Tor: goaltender Tom Barrasso; Car: none Key injuries: Tor: C Mats Sundin (wrist, day to day); C Darcy Tucker (neck/shoulder, out), D Dmitry Yushkevich (leg, out), D Jyrki Lumme (concussion, chest, day-to-day), D Karel Pilar (thumb, day-to-day); RW Mikael Renberg (hamstring/pelvis, day-to-day); Car: D David Tanabe (wrist, day-to-day) Goaltender’s postseason record: Tor: Curtis Joseph (56-54); Car: Arturs Irbe (19-21), Kevin Weekes (3-2) Coach’s postseason record: Tor: Pat Quinn (83-74); Car: Paul Maurice (12-12) Fast facts: In their long and storied history, the Maple Leafs have come back to win six playoff series after being down three games to two. This is Carolina’s first trip to the conference finals in the franchise’s 23-year history MATCHUPS TOR CAR Goals 249 (3) 217 (13) Goals against 207 (12) 217 (19) Power play 15.4 (14) 15.8 (13) Penalty killing 84.6 (16) 83.5 (20) Save pct. .899 (24) 902 (14) GAA. 2.49 (12) 2.59 (19) Penalty min. 1,212 (18) 1,026 (26) Power-play goals 54 (18) 63 (4) Short-handed goals 9 (8) 4 (23) Players w/ Cup titles 3 1 10+ goal scorers 11 8 Prediction: Toronto in six Lonnie White and Roy Jurgens

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