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The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Chicago Blackhawks in a Black Friday afternoon at the United Center, with potentially some new faces in the lineup and others we may not see for awhile.
The Leafs recalled forward Alex Steeves on Thursday, likely as insurance for Calle Jarnkrok, who was not on the ice for practice on Thursday after blocking a shot earlier in the week. Steeves is having an excellent season with the Toronto Marlies, leading the club with 18 points and is tied for second in the AHL with 11 goals and would likely prevent Ryan Reaves from returning to the lineup.
The club also activated Conor Timmins from injured reserve. The 25-year-old blueliner played well in the preseason before suffering a lower-body injury and missing over six weeks. He will slot in on the bottom pairing with William Lagesson.
The big news on Thursday was the placing of defenseman John Klingberg on LTIR. Klingberg has not appeared right since coming back from a preseason injury, and his status on long-term injury lends itself to the possibility that he could miss the rest of the season. Placing Klingberg on LTIR gives Toronto some cap flexibility, until they are sure the blueliner is out for the rest of the year.
The Hawks will be without winger Taylor Hall, Andreas Athanasiou, and Corey Perry, who missed practice on Thursday. Head coach Luke Richardson would not provide any additional information on Perry, but surely the Leafs will not be sad to see Perry not playing against them, since he scored the winning goal for Chicago in a 3-1 win on October 16.
Arvid Soderblom will get the start for Chicago on Friday, and Ilya Samsonov will be between the pipes for Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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