lead of the game at 10:03. On a delayed pena

NASHVILLE -- Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne is expected to start Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins in his return from a hip injury that has limited him to only nine games this season. The Predators recalled Rinne from a two-game conditioning assignment Monday and announced that he would start the Penguins game. "Its a blast to be back playing and feeling good," Rinne said. "I think thats the main thing. Absolutely, Im just super excited." Rinne, who hasnt played in an NHL game since Oct. 22, stopped 33 of 35 shots for a .946 save percentage during his two-game stint with the AHLs Milwaukee Admirals. "Its not in the same level -- the AHL and NHL -- theres a little bit of a gap between," Rinne said. "But still, that was the whole purpose of that trip, just to feel comfortable again, get some games and get that game conditioning going again." Rinne, a two-time Vezina Trophy finalist, has been recovering from an E. coli infection in his surgically repaired left hip. In his last five games before the injury, Rinne went 3-1-1 with a 1.60 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage. The 31-year-old Rinne is returning as the Predators make a late-season bid for one of the Western Conferences eight playoff spots. The Predators are 12th in the Western Conference standings with 62 points. The Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks are tied for eighth with 66 points. "You cant just throw a guy in there and expect him to be the saviour," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "But just getting him back playing is a great boost because you know the type of player that he is, the type of person he is and what he can mean to our hockey team, not only this year but the next year and the following years." The Predators also placed goaltender Devan Dubnyk on waivers Monday. The 27-year-old Dubnyk has played 32 games for the Edmonton Oilers and two games with the Predators this season. Air Jordan Outlet . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. Wholesale Air Jordan .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. https://www.jordanchina.us/ . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists. Air Jordan Discount . With the results, North America claimed 2.5 of the three available points, opening up a 17.5-12.5 lead in the overall standings. A total of 60 points are available, meaning the first team to 30.5 points will win the Continental Cup. Jordan China . Nikolai Khabibulin was yanked in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators looked ready to put away a big road win.TORONTO -- Phil Kessel had the game-winning goal, but it was his near fight with a familiar foe that sparked the Toronto Maple Leafs to a comeback victory Saturday night. Kessel scored the second of three straight goals for the Maple Leafs in the third period as they recovered to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 at Air Canada Centre. He assisted on the Maple Leafs third goal and almost had the first Gordie Howe hat trick - a goal, an assist and a fight - of his NHL career when he and pesky Alexandre Burrows scuffled and just about dropped the gloves late in the second period. It would have been the second fight of the season for Kessel and Burrows, who officially scrapped back on Nov. 2 in Vancouver. The two each got roughing minors in Saturdays game, with Burrows getting an additional minor for high-sticking. "(Kessel) wasnt too thrilled about all that and neither was anyone on the bench," said linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Maybe you can look at that as something that got Phil a little bit excited." At the time of the fracas, the Canucks were clinging to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ryan Kesler in the last minute of the first. That all changed in the third period, when the Leafs broke out with three goals in the span of 4:42. "It was a one-goal hockey game and here we had an opportunity to pull a hockey game out of the fire by scoring one goal and giving ourselves a chance," said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. "We have a break coming, and it would make everybody feel a lot better about themselves with a win here versus a loss." The win was the 11th in the past 14 games for the Leafs and their seventh straight at home. "About six games ago, we really focused in on playing well going into the break," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. "We feel weve done that. Weve gotten some big wins. We wanted to get as many points as we could going into the break and we did that." The Canucks lost their seventh straight game and their 16th in their past 20. Theyve scored just 37 goals in that span. Vancouver is now 8-23-5 when scoring less than three goals in game (excluding the shootout). The Canucks are a near perfect 19-1-4 when scoring three or more. "Weve dug ourselves a pretty big hole here, but we need to look at it as a challenge when we get bback," said Canucks coach John Tortorella.dddddddddddd"I do believe well be healthier to fight our way through it. Were not dead and gone. Weve allowed a lot of teams to get back in and pass us, as far the playoffs are concerned. But we still have enough games to crawl back in." Mason Raymond and van Riemsdyk also scored for Toronto. Jonathan Bernier made 23 saves for the win. Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots in defeat. Vancouvers lone goal came when Kesler took a pass in the high slot from Chris Higgins and flicked a weak wrist shot at the goal. Bernier tried to stop it with his blocker, but it deflected downwards into the net. The Canucks held onto that lead after two periods. "We just wanted to stick with it," van Riemsdyk said. "We know we didnt play necessarily as well as we could. We were playing a little bit loose with the puck. We got back to just cycling them down low and trying to create off that." Raymond got Toronto on the board at 7:23 when he circled the Canucks net and snuck a wrist shot past Luongo for his 16th goal of the season. The Leafs then took their first lead of the game at 10:03. On a delayed penalty call, with a sixth attacker on the ice for Bernier, Kessel snapped a shot near the Canucks blueline that found its way past a screened Luongo. It was Kessels 31st of the season. Tyler Bozaks assist on the goal was the 100th of his NHL career. Two minutes and two seconds after the Leafs took the lead, van Riemsdyk made it 3-1 when his shot at the side of the goal bounced of Alexander Edler and into the Canucks goal. It was his 24th of the season. "We got to be really happy about the last month or so," Bernier said. "Weve been playing really well. Now we just got to take some rest and hit the reset button because the real season is coming after (the break). We have to make sure were ready for the next 22 games." Notes: Canucks centre Henrik Sedin sat out his second-straight game due to injuryaLeafs centre Jay McClement didnt return after suffering an upper-body injury when he fell awkwardly into the end boards early in the second periodaThe game was a rare 6 p.m. start for a Toronto home game on SaturdayaIt was the final game for both teams before the NHL shuts down for the Winter Olympics. ' ' '