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A crucial battle in the Eastern Conference playoff race is on tap Wednesday at Air Canada Centre, as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Tampa Bay Lighting in an Atlantic Division showdown. Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Tampa Bay currently holds the last of the Atlantics three automatic bids to the playoffs, but the Maple Leafs are just one point behind. Toronto is also in postseason position at the moment, occupying the first of the Easts two wild card berths. James Reimer is expected to get the call in net again for the Leafs. This is the first time the same goalie will start both games in a back-to-back for the Leafs this season. Reimer hasnt started back-to-back games since Games 6 and 7 in the playoffs last spring. Goalie Jonathan Bernier returned to the ice Wednesday and went through some light work for the first time since suffering a groin injury last week in Los Angeles. Toronto is 2-0 against the Lightning this season and has won three of four and seven of the past nine meetings in this series. Tampa Bay also has lost four in a row at Air Canada Centre. The Bolts dropped a 3-2 regulation decision in Toronto on Jan. 28 and were handed a 4-1 setback at home on Feb. 6. The clubs are set to meet once more in the regular season when the Leafs visit Tampa Bay Times Forum on April 8. The Lightning began their recent homestand with three straight losses before beating Florida, New Jersey and Vancouver to post a solid 3-1-2 mark during the stay in Central Florida. The brief surge has seen Tampa Bay log at least a point in five straight games and the Bolts would like to make it six-game point streak with another win on Wednesday. "Weve got points in five straight games at a time when we really need them," Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper remarked. "Hopefully this is good momentum for us going on the road." Tampa Bay is kicking off a three-game road trip on Wednesday and also will visit Ottawa and Pittsburgh during the swing. The Lighting are 17-16-2 as the visiting team this season. The Lightning were last in action on Monday when they notched a 4-3 regulation win over the Canucks. Ondrej Palat continued his five-game point streak with a goal and an assist to help Tampa down Vancouver. Palat, a 22-year-old Czech winger, has four goals and five assists during the run and has been a pleasant surprise for the Bolts this season, posting 18 goals and 46 points through 68 games. Steven Stamkos also registered a goal and an assist in the Lightnings third straight victory. Valtteri Filppula and Tom Pyatt also scored while goaltender Ben Bishop made 25 stops in the win. Bishop expects to start tonight for Tampa, but the former Ottawa Senator is just 2-4-0 with a 3.05 goals against average and .884 save percentage in seven career games against Toronto. Toronto has struggled of late, losing two straight and three of its last four games. The Leafs hope to get back on track Wednesday when they play the first test of a two-game homestand. The residency also includes Saturdays important divisional tilt against the rival Canadiens. The Maple Leafs are 22-11-1 as the home team this season compared to a 14-15-7 mark on the road. Toronto wrapped a five-game road trip on Tuesday with a 3-2 regulation loss in Detroit. Gustav Nyquist scored a pair of goals to lead the Red Wings to the close victory at Joe Louis Arena. Jake Gardiner and James van Riemsdyk had one goal apiece for the Maple Leafs, while James Reimer allowed all three goals on 31 shots. "It was average. There was some good and bad throughout the five games," Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri said of the teams five-game road trip. Jonathan Bernier sat out his second straight game with a strained groin and the clubs No. 1 goaltender is considered day-to-day. Reimer could get the start on back-to-back nights and is 2-3-0 with a 2.94 GAA in five career games against Tampa Bay. Drew MacIntyre, who has been serving as the backup with Bernier sidelined, has not seen action in an NHL game since making two appearances with Buffalo during the 2011-12 season. After winning the final three tests of a six-game homestand, the Lightning hope to carry some momentum on the road for tonights important clash. So far in 2013-14, however, Tampa Bay has come up empty against the Maple Leafs. Jean Beliveau Canadiens Jersey . Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. Patrick Roy Canadiens Jersey . Browns owner Jimmy Haslam announced the move with Young on Monday during a speech at a Pro Football Hall of Fame luncheon. http://www.canadienssale.com/authentic-tomas-tatar-canadiens-jersey/ . "He came up to me and said, I want to train," said Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen. The 26-year-old midfielder is expected to play Saturday night when Toronto hosts D.C. United, returning to his Major League Soccer squad with mixed feelings about the Americans World Cup run -- sad that it ended when it did but proud of his teams performance. Brendan Gallagher Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. Howie Morenz Jersey . - Rookie Tesho Akindele scored three goals and Fabian Castillo added two in FC Dallas 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.WASHINGTON -- Russell Westbrook drove for the winning layup with 0.8 seconds left in overtime, and Kevin Durant greeted the latest KD2DC craze with 34 points Wednesday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their fourth straight with a 105-103 victory over the Washington Wizards. Durant and Westbrook scored all 13 of the Thunders points in the extra period, including Durants throw-down dunk over Marcin Gortat and Westbrooks surprisingly uncontested layup off of an inbounds play after Oklahoma City had called timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining. Westbrook finished with 32 points and led a third-quarter comeback that made up a 12-point halftime deficit. Durant, the D.C. native whose 2016 free agency is much-anticipated in his hometown, added seven rebounds and broke out of a career-worst 0-for-14 slump from 3-point range by making four from long range after halftime. Steven Adams added a career-high 20 rebounds for the Thunder, who are 19-8 after a 3-12 start. They moved above .500 for the first time this season Tuesday night with a win over the Miami Heat. Nene scored 24 points for the Wizards, including nine of Washingtons 11 points in overtime. John Wall had 28 points and 13 assists. Durants annual homecoming game has morphed into a recruiting trip, a sideshow to the action on the court. KD2DC T-shirts and signs have become popular items, and he was shown wearing a photoshopped Washington jersey on the replay screen during a weather update in the fourth quarter. The arena -- which was sold out for only the fifth time this season -- erupted in cheers when Durannt was introduced with the starting lineups.dddddddddddd Durant, who was born in the District and was a high school star in the area, has tried his best to ignore the noise about a decision that is still more than a year away. Asked before the game about the support he receives from the D.C. fans, he said: Its cool. Its cool. Then came a long pause and a smile before a final: Its cool. I love playing for Oklahoma City, man, he said later. Its just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest. Thats the only thing I focus on. Durant struggled again with his shot early on. He went 3 for 9 from the field and 0 for 3 from 3-point range, one night after missing all eight 3-point attempts in a win over the Miami Heat. ------ TIP INS Thunder: Oklahoma City missed its first 11 3-point attempts. ... Durant said he had to get 91 tickets for family and friends for the game. Last year, he needed 100. Asked about missing nine, he laughed and said: Im going to keep that internal. ... Oklahoma City is 3-0 so far on its five-game road trip. Wizards: Paul Pierce had a season-high 12 rebounds. ... Washington lost for the first time when leading after three quarters. The team has been 16-0 when leading going into the fourth. ... One can go for weeks without seeing a lane violation in the NBA, but this game had two in 66 seconds. The Thunder and Wizards each were caught cheating on a free-throw attempt early in the second quarter. UP NEXT Thunder: visit Hawks on Friday. Wizards: visit Trail Blazers on Saturday. ' ' '