Rod Steward 'Tonight's the night'

When Jason Blake declared “tonight’s the night," he wasn’t talking about a Rod Stewart song.
The Maple Leafs’ left winger hopes a new assignment some might call it a demotion will snap him and the team out of a scoring funk. Blake, who has just one assist in three games, will be with physical centre John Mitchell and winger Jamal Mayers when Toronto takes on the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Centre.
“I’m feeling good, but I haven’t played as well as I could,” Blake said this morning. “We haven’t done as good a job as forwards as we can do. We need more. Tonight’s the night.”
Regular centre Matt Stajan Blake has been split, who enters the game with three of Toronto’s eight goals.
“What Jason hasn’t done is shoot the puck as much as in the past,” coach Ron Wilson said. “He had (302) shots last year and he’s got seven. He should be leading our team. Hopefully, he gets a little more room tonight.”
But Wilson pointed out the double dangers when playing the Pens, getting into a run-and-gun game with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin or carried away in a physical match that could look Pittsburgh’s power play in full operation.
“This team will pick you apart,” Wilson warned. “First and foremost, try and stay out of the penalty box. I don’t want to see that group of five stepping out there and lashing the puck around against the best penalty killing team, which obviously to this point we’re not.
“We have to be aware of who we are playing against. We can’t have all our eyes on Crosby and Malkin. Their defence likes to jump in.”
Vesa Toskala gets the start in goal for Toronto, with a opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of fans after an overtime loss to Montreal and poor start versus the Capitals led to Jonas Gustavsson playing ahead of him. Gustavsson is now on short term IR with a groin injury.
The Leafs were 3-1 against the Penguins last year, which led Wilson to recount a humourous tale from encountering Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero at the Team USA Olympic development camp meeting last summer.
“I kidded Ray whether Brian (Burke) and I get rings, too. By beating the Penguins, it was the last straw bychancely for (fired coach Michel Therrien). They made their coaching change and everything turned around. So I’m still waiting for my ring.”