(SportsNetwork.com) - Home ice hasnt been much of an advantage for the Toronto Maple Leafs in recent meetings with the New York Rangers, but the Leafs hope to reverse that trend when they host their Original Six rivals on Saturday. Although Toronto has won the last two encounters with the Blueshirts, including a 6-3 win in New York on Oct. 12, the Rangers have claimed five of the past six battles at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are only 3-4-0 as the host this season, but will be glad to be home after going 0-1-1 on a recent two-game swing trip to Arizona and Colorado. Toronto was dealt a 3-2 setback by the Coyotes on Tuesday before dropping a 4-3 shootout decision Thursday against the Avalanche. Alex Tanguay scored the deciding marker in the third round of the shootout to defeat the Leafs. Toronto did well to earn a point, however, as Richard Paniks game-tying goal with 1:16 left in regulation pushed the game to overtime. Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel also scored goals for the Maple Leafs, who hope to avoid their first three-game skid since closing 2013-14 with four straight regulation losses. Kessel, who leads the Leafs with 18 points this season, had a goal and two assists in Torontos rout of the Rangers last month. The American winger has eight goals and 11 assists over 28 career games against New York. Jonathan Bernier suffered the loss against Colorado despite making 31 stops. It was a great effort tonight to get a point. We played really well in overtime, said Bernier. Toronto could use both Bernier and James Reimer in net this weekend. The Leafs also are in action Sunday in Ottawa. There was a scary moment in Thursdays tilt as Leafs forward Daniel Winnik was taken off the ice on a stretcher. Winnik absorbed a hit from Avs defenseman Jan Hejda and smacked the back of his head on the ice as the two players were tangled up. Winnik was not taken to a hospital and he could play in tonights game. Defenseman Jake Gardiner also left the game with a lower-body injury and is questionable for tonight. New York, meanwhile, will welcome Derek Stepan to the ice on Saturday, as the clubs top centerman expects to make his season debut. Stepan has missed the first 12 games of the season while recovering from a fractured fibula suffered during practice in late September. In 82 games last season, Stepan scored 17 goals and set career highs with 40 assists and 57 points. The 24-year-old pivot has registered a point in nine of his 14 career games against Toronto, posting two goals and nine assists. Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle also skated with the team Friday and could return next week after recovering from a broken hand he suffered in the season opener against St. Louis. Boyle, who signed as a free agent in July, was hurt while blocking a shot against the Blues. Like Toronto, the Blueshirts are also playing on both Saturday and Sunday, meaning backup Cam Talbot will start over Henrik Lundqvist tonight. Talbot has seen action in three games this season and made his second start of 2014-15 in Mondays shootout loss to St. Louis. Lundqvist will start Sundays game against Edmonton. Talbot relieved Lundqvist in this seasons earlier meeting versus the Leafs. New Yorks No. 1 netminder took the loss on Oct. 12 after yielding all six goals on just 24 shots. Talbot is 2-0 with a 0.80 GAA in his three games (two starts) against the Leafs. Lundqvist helped his club halt a two-game slide Wednesday against Detroit. Lundqvist made 25 saves in the 4-3 overtime win and Derick Brassard delivered the game-winning goal to help the Rangers close a four-game homestand with a 2-0-2 record. After Pavel Datsyuk went off for tripping, New Yorks Dan Girardi unleashed a blast from the point. Jonas Gustavsson made the initial save, but the rebound trickled across the crease to Brassard, who was present at the right side of the net to wrist it home for the win. We knew from the beginning we were facing a pretty good team playing some good hockey, but we found a way, said Brassard. We made some hockey plays there and it is what it is. In overtime, we had the chance to get it done. Martin St. Louis and Brassard finished with a goal and an assist apiece and Rick Nash and Lee Stempniak both scored for the Rangers. Nash has 10 goals this season, leaving him one shy of Anaheims Corey Perry for the league lead. The Brampton, Ontario native has notched five goals and six assists in 15 career games against Toronto. The Rangers, who are 2-2-0 as the guest this season, are on the road for one game before playing their next three at Madison Square Garden. 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LOS ANGELES -- Clutch hitting from Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez helped the Pittsburgh Pirates finally win a series in Dodger Stadium after a seven-year drought. McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions. "Its good that we were able to get three out of four against a really good team here in L.A.," McCutchen said. "We havent done that in a long time, so its a step in the right direction, definitely." Alvarez drove in three runs against Zack Greinke and Josh Harrison homered against Chris Perez, helping the Pirates win for the eighth time in 12 games. The last time they captured a series at Chavez Ravine was in September 2006, when they took two of three under then manager Jim Tracy. "Weve been out here a lot and not done a whole lot. So it was a big thing for us -- because we flat-out believe we can play," skipper Clint Hurdle said. "We needed to knock this off our to-do list, and we were able to. We knew what we were facing here, and we outpitched them for three of the four days. We played three really clean ballgames. We have confidence and we have enough edge and grit, and I think it showed up this weekend." Edinson Volquez (3-4) allowed two runs and five hits over five innings, striking out six and walking one. "Youve got to stay focused on what youre doing, especially against those guys because they have a good lineup," Volquez said. "You cant make a lot of mistakes against them, especially with Greinke because hes one of the best pitchers in the National League. Tonight I had better fastball command than I did in New York, so I was able to throw more strikes and keep the fastball down." Jason Grilli, the fifth Pirates pitcher, got three outs for his eighth save and third of the series after giving up a pair of two-out walks and an RBI single by pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke. It was the Dodgers only hit after Justin Turners solo homer with one out in the fourth. Greinke (8-2) gave up a season-worst four runs and five hits in seven innings and struck out seven. "Hees an ultra-competitor.dddddddddddd And to beat him, youve got to out-compete him," Hurdle said. "We laid off some tight pitches, we worked some counts, got his pitch count up, then we hit some pitches we were able to handle and got the barrel on them. But that was the plan coming in. I mean, you give him strike one and he can cut you up three different ways. So we just tried to be as aggressive as he was. We were looking for fastballs early, and his location played into it." Alvarez opened the scoring in the first with a two-run single after Greinke gave up a two-out double to McCutchen and walks to Ike Davis and Russell Martin. "McCutchen did a lot against us," manager Don Mattingly said. "Obviously the kid at third base (Alvarez) had a couple of big hits too, and had some good at-bats. Zack had been fairly successful against him." McCutchen, whose 21 homers, 84 RBIs and .317 average last season helped the Pirates end a 20-year playoff drought, made it 3-1 in the third with his fifth homer and first since April 23. The RBI was the first for the reigning NL MVP after a drought of nine games and 33 at-bats since his run-scoring single against Washingtons Blake Treinen on May 22. "I havent been hitting the ball the way I knew I could be, so tonight was a good start for myself," said McCutchen, who came in 4 for 21 against Greinke with two RBIs. "Just being ready to hit was the biggest key, and getting pitches to hit. Ive been a little late, probably because my timings been off on off-speed pitches. So tonight I got myself in a hitting position and was ready to fire. And when I got a good pitch to hit I was able to put the barrel on it." Harrison, who was 7 for 17 in the series, hit his fourth homer in the seventh for the Pirates final run. NOTES: Dodgers RF Yasiel Puig had two hits and has reached base in 33 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors. ... RHP Bryan Morris, who gave up Hanley Ramirezs second homer of the game in Saturdays 12-2 Pirates loss, was traded to the Miami Marlins for the 39th overall pick in Thursdays draft. RHP Casey Sadler was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was 6-1 with a 2.66 ERA in eight starts. ' ' '