The Maple Leafs will hope the return of Joffrey Lupul to the lineup will help stop the bleeding as Toronto hosts the Winnipeg Jets in a crucial Eastern Conference battle Saturday night.

Lupul, who was second on the team with 25 goals and 67 points last season, has missed the last 25 games with a broken forearm. He will play on a line with Nazem Kadri and Nikolai Kulemin.

Ben Scrivens will get his second straight start for the Leafs, who have lost four straight, including a disheartening 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, and are just three points up on the ninth place New York Rangers.

A few people surprised with BScrivens getting the start for TML tonight. Carlyle says:”Right now,he’s at the head of the line.” — John Shannon (@JSportsnet) March 16, 2013

“It’s not all doom and gloom, but it’s doom and gloom when you lose the way we lost,” coach Randy Carlyle said of Thursday’s loss. “It tears at the fabric of your heart because we’re finding a way to lose a game instead of finding a way to win a game.”

Toronto is one of the league’s better scoring teams with 2.9 goals per game, but is among the worst in shots allowed (31.9) and commits the most giveaways (11.3).

Winnipeg (14-11-2), which is one point behind Toronto and two back of Sunday’s opponent, Ottawa, was lackluster while beginning the season with a 5-8-1 record. It gave up 3.2 goals per game and struggled to kill off penalties as opponents scored on 34.1 per cent of their chances.

The Jets are 9-3-1 since, and have won their last two. They defeated the Maples Leafs 5-2 at home on Tuesday followed by Thursday’s 3-1 home win over the New York Rangers.

“To me the difference is that we’re emotionally involved in the game, both the emotions and physicality,” coach Claude Noel told the team’s official website. “That I think is driving our team.”

Winnipeg has allowed eight goals over its last five games (4-0-1) and continues to be much improved on the penalty kill. The Jets haven’t given up a power play goal in 10 straight, holding opponents scoreless on 26 chances dating back to Feb. 24. They’re the only team not to allow a power-play goal over that stretch.

They’ve also had the benefit of better goaltending. Ondrej Pavelec has a 1.69 goals-against average over his last four games. Pavelec hasn’t been announced yet as Saturday’s starter, but stopped 24 of 26 shots against the Maple Leafs earlier in the week, and is 3-1-0 with a 2.01 GAA in his last four against them.

Plenty of players are also contributing to Winnipeg’s offence, with 10 scoring at least one goal in the last five games.

“We’ve got to feed on what we’ve done the last couple games and the success we’ve had and the good feelings that come from that,” said Andrew Ladd, who has a team-high 26 points. “When things are happening and things are going well, you get a sense of your game.”

Winnipeg’s Nik Antropov, who is riding a four-game point streak, had a goal and two assists against the Leafs on Tuesday.

#NHLJets vs. #Leafs: Blake Wheeler had a two-goal game against the Leafs March 12. So did Phil Kessel vs. Winnipeg, who has 5-5-10 in March. — Chris Nichols (@Nichols_NHLPool) March 16, 2013

— With files from The Associated Press