Sabres at Leafs: Pregame
Lost amidst all the drama of today’s Tomas Kaberle situation is the game between the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the ACC (7pm, TSN).
Coming off a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, the Leafs will look to reverse their fortunes with a better defensive performance against their rivals, who lead the Northeast division.
Game Notes
- The Leafs enter this game having dropped their past two by narrow margins (5-4 in a shootout to Pittsburgh, and Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Atlanta). The Sabres, meanwhile, come into this one having won three straight.
- Over their past 10 games, Toronto is 6-3-1, while Buffalo is 7-2-1 during the same span.
- Buffalo has been winning with a balanced offense featuring three lines capable of scoring on a regular basis. Their roster includes four 20-plus goal scorers, and another eight with 10 or more.
- Newly-signed college standout Brady Irwin will make his Leafs debut tonight, likely skating on the 3rd line.
- Leafs’ centre Tyler Bozak continues to impress in a top-line role, with a goal and three assists in his past four games.
- Following some in-game line juggling, Viktor Stalberg scored both the Leafs’ goals versus Atlanta while skating on the top line, and there is good chance he may remain there tonight.
- With Jonas Gustavsson having starting 3 of the past 4 games for Toronto, J-S Giguere will get the start in net tonight. Vezina candidate Ryan Miller (39-16-8 / 2.21 / .929) is expected to get the call for the Sabres.
- The Sabres enter this game looking to complete the season sweep of the Maple Leafs, having won all five prior matchups this season. The Leafs, having lost by one goal in three of those games, will be looking to play spoiler to that party.
Stats Pack
| BUF | TOR | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 43-23-10 (2nd East) |
28-36-13 (15th East) |
| Home Record | 24-10-6 | 17-16-5 |
| Road Record | 19-13-4 | 11-20-8 |
| Goals For | 217 (9th) | 200 (t-19th) |
| Goals Against | 185 (3rd) | 249 (29th) |
| Powerplay % | 17.6 (17th) | 14.9 (29th) |
| Penalty Kill % | 85.9 (3rd) | 74.1 (30th) |
| Scoring First | 30-4-4 | 17-6-5 |
| Leading After One | 20-3-2 | 12-5-1 |
| Trailing After One | 17-14-5 | 9-21-3 |
| Leading After Two | 28-0-0 | 18-2-2 |
| Trailing After Two | 6-21-3 | 1-31-7 |
| Overtime | 10-10 | 8-13 |
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Broadcast Information
Game Time: 7:00 pm
Television: TSN
Radio: am640 Toronto, am900 CHML Hamilton
Online: atdhe.net
