TSN Reports that Mat Sundin is now a Vancouver Canuck. Terms of the deal have no been disclosed (yet).

Toronto was building momentum with a healthy Vesa Toskala in net. Without their No. 1 goaltender, the Maple Leafs haven’t looked like a team capable of reaching the playoffs.

The Maple Leafs could be without Toskala for a seventh straight game Wednesday night when they open a three-game California road trip against the resurgent Anaheim Ducks.

Although he started slowly in his first season with Toronto (16-18-8), Toskala had played well enough lately to become the team’s clear No. 1 goalie. He is 7-3-1 with one shutout and a 1.81 goals-against average in his last 11 starts, although he hasn’t played since Dec. 22 because of a groin injury.

Without Toskala, the Maple Leafs have struggled to a 1-4-1 record, allowing 26 goals. They are last in the Northeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference with 40 points.

Andrew Raycroft hasn’t been the answer in Toskala’s absence, going 0-3-1 with a 4.47 GAA in his last four starts. Scott Clemmensen, who began the season in the minors, is 1-1-0 with a 4.33 GAA in two starts this month.

Toskala practiced Sunday and could return on this trip, which includes stops at Los Angeles on Thursday and San Jose on Saturday.

Toronto is 13-11-4 with Toskala in goal, and 3-7-4 without him.

Raycroft, who hasn’t won since Nov. 9, didn’t play poorly Saturday, but was bested by counterpart Antero Niittymaki in the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 loss to visiting Philadelphia.

Captain Mats Sundin scored both goals for Toronto, which lost despite a 56-32 shot advantage.

“We played a good game, but it’s like we don’t know how to win the close games,” Sundin said. “We have to become smarter and learn what it takes to win.”

The 542nd and 543rd goals of Sundin‘s career moved him past Stan Mikita into 25th place all-time. His next goal will tie him with Maurice Richard.

Sundin continues to produce, tallying four goals and two assists in his last five games to give him 48 points. He has a shot at his first 100-point season since recording a career-high 114 in 1992-93 with Quebec.

Center Nik Antropov, however, has cooled off considerably. Antropov, – second on the team with 35 points – has no goals in his last 11 contests and is pointless in nine games.

Anaheim (22-17-6) has rebounded from a sluggish start, and appears ready to assert itself as one of the league’s elite teams again.

The Ducks are 3-0-1 in their last four games and 7-2-1 in their past 10, a surge that’s moved them to within two points of Dallas and San Jose for the Pacific Division lead.

Chris Pronger and Corey Perry scored power-play goals 1:10 apart to cap a four-goal spurt in the second period as Anaheim beat Nashville 5-2 on Monday. The Ducks had been held to two goals or fewer in 10 of their previous 12 games.

“We stuck with the same program that we’ve been sticking with the last few weeks – getting the puck in deep, cycling it and taking it to the net. Tonight we finally started getting the bounces,” Perry said.

Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and an assist, extending his point streak to a career high-tying eight games. He has four goals and six assists during the run.

The Maple Leafs have won four of their last five overall meetings with the Ducks, but lost their last visit to Anaheim on Nov. 11, 2003. Toronto’s last win there came March 11, 1998.

The Pittsburgh Penguins faced questions about their goaltending even before starter Marc-Andre Fleury was injured. Unheralded Ty Conklin is providing all the answers right now.

Conklin tries to lead the Penguins to their season-high fifth straight victory Thursday night when they conclude their season series against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

Pittsburgh (21-16-2) appeared to be in trouble after learning that Fleury would be sidelined into February after sustaining a high ankle sprain Dec. 6. With no veteran backup available, the starting job was left to Dany Sabourin, who had made 10 NHL starts before this season.

Sabourin went 2-4-0 with a 3.32 goals-against average in six starts before coach Michel Therrien called on Conklin, who was recalled from the minors Dec. 7, to start against Boston on Dec. 20.

Conklin stopped 37 of 41 shots in that game, a 5-4 shootout victory. He has been even better in his last four starts, going 4-0-0 with one shutout and a 1.46 GAA.

Conklin, who has allowed 13 goals in six appearances this season, was outstanding in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 shootout victory in the NHL Winter Classic outdoor game Tuesday. He stopped 36 of 37 shots, including all seven in overtime.

“We were pretty discouraged when we lost Fleury,” Therrien said. “Certainly, (Conklin’s) playing at a level that gives us a chance to win. … He made some key saves in overtime.”

Conklin’s goaltending and Sidney Crosby’s memorable shootout goal helped the Penguins match their longest win streak of the season.

Crosby assisted on Colby Armstrong’s first-period goal for his 53rd point, putting him five behind Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier for the league lead. Crosby has one goal and nine assists during a six-game point streak, but hasn’t scored a non-shootout goal in five straight contests.

He has six goals and nine assists during an eight-game point streak against Toronto (16-16-8).

The outdoor victory gave Pittsburgh a sweep of its home-and-home series with the Sabres that started with a 2-0 home win Saturday.

Conklin’s strong play has at least temporarily solidified Pittsburgh’s goaltending. Fleury, the top overall pick in the 2003 draft, has yet to establish himself as an elite player at the position, and the Pens had little depth behind him before Conklin arrived.

The Maple Leafs are also missing their No. 1 goalie, playing the last four games without Vesa Toskala, who has a groin injury.

Andrew Raycroft went 0-2-1 with a 5.03 GAA in three games as Toskala’s replacement, so Scott Clemmensen was given his first start of the season Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

Clemmensen made 30 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards in the shootout as Toronto ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory.

“My whole career I’ve had to fight and work hard to get where I’m at,” Clemmensen said. “If I get the start in Pittsburgh that’s great. If I don’t, I’m going to be happy with the way I played tonight.”

Captain Mats Sundin, Jason Blake and Hal Gill scored in regulation for the Leafs, 1-3-2 in their last six road games.

Sundin – the team leader with 44 points – has 13 goals and 18 assists in his last 18 games against Pittsburgh. His 38 goals versus the Penguins are his most against any opponent, while his 79 points are tied for his most.

The Maple Leafs have won two of three meetings this season, including a 5-2 road win Oct. 25. Toronto is 8-2-0 in its last 10 visits to Pittsburgh.

The Toronto Maple Leafs (last 10 games: 6-2-2) take on the Tampa Bay Lighting (last 10 games: 4-5-1) marking the halfway point in the Maple Leafs longest road trip of the season.

A meeting against the Tampa Bay Lightning may be just what the Toronto Maple Leafs need to bounce back from one of their most disappointing losses this season.

The Maple Leafs continue their season-high seven-game road trip on Thursday looking to win their seventh straight game over the Lightning.

Toronto (14-13-7) had a 2-0 lead over Carolina on Tuesday, before allowing two goals in the final 1:25 of regulation. The Leafs lost 3-2 in overtime.

“It’s a tough loss for us because we played a solid game except for the last two minutes,” defenseman Pavel Kubina said. “With two minutes I thought it was game over.”

Toronto is 1-1-1 so far on its road trip, and it tries to rebound at Tampa Bay, where it is 18-4-1 with one tie all-time.

The Leafs beat the Lightning 6-1 at home on Dec. 10. Toronto is outscoring Tampa Bay 27-12 during the winning streak in the series.

Leafs captain Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist in the win over the Lightning last week, giving him three goals and seven assists during a seven-game point streak against them. Sundin leads the Leafs with 16 goals and 24 assists this season, but has been held without a point in each of his last two games.

Sundin, the franchise leader in goals (404) and assists (545), hasn’t gone without a point in three straight games since March 19-23, 2006.

Nik Antropov is second on Toronto with 15 goals and 20 assists, and has recorded a goal and an assist in each of his last three games against Tampa Bay.

The Leafs’ Vesa Toskala made 26 saves in last week’s win over the Lightning to improve to 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average in two career games against them. Toskala, though, has allowed seven goals in losing his last two games after giving up just six goals in his previous five

Tampa Bay (14-17-3) fell to Atlanta 6-2 on Tuesday to drop its third straight and fifth in its last six. The Lightning have allowed the third-most goals in the league (113), and have given up 18 during their three-game skid.

“We have to keep on trying. We just have to find a way to grind through this,” Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said.

Johan Holmqvist yielded three goals on nine shots against the Thrashers before being replaced by Marc Denis.

Holmqvist is 0-3-0 with a 6.64 GAA in his last four starts and has been pulled from three of them. In his first career game against Toronto last week, he gave up four goals on 22 shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Denis, stopped five of seven shots.

Denis is just 1-5-0 with a 4.05 GAA in 10 games this season, and 1-4-0 with a 2.95 GAA in seven career games against Toronto.

Vincent Lecavalier, who leads league in scoring with 51 points, was held scoreless on Tuesday after recording three goals and three assists in his last three games. Lecavalier looks get back on track at the St. Pete Times Forum, where he has six goals and eight assists during a seven-game points streak.

The Lightning have dropped three straight games at home following an 11-3-1 start.