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Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m.  |  Arena: Air Canada Centre |  TV: TSN |  Radio: TSN 1050


Game Day Quotes

Mike Babcock on sorting out rest going into the last week of the season:

 We have lots of rest, so I’m not too concerned about that. We have so many opportunities coming up for rest — just the way the playoff schedule comes — so I’m not really concerned about that. We’ve given Freddy more than a long break here, so I think we’ll give him two games going in.

Babcock on how team depth has improved since last year:

Compared to last year, we’ve got a lot more just because guys have come in and aged. They’re better players. Ideally, as we move forward, you have to have more and more depth. You never know when your time is, so the more you get, the more chances you have. I thought when we looked at Winnipeg the other night — they missed the playoffs a year ago right? — that looks like a pretty good hockey club to me. I think that’s what you do — just keep building and building and building, and you’ll get your chance.

Babcock on Connor Carrick:

CCs and I have had a real good conversation on a regular basis about what he’s got to improve on and how he can be in the lineup everyday and be an important player as he moves ahead. I say to all players — you’re the CEO of your own company, so the more you put in, the better that company runs. He’s maximized his body, so now he’s working on other things to just try and improve. It’s hard to earn confidence when you’re in and out, but that’s the stage of the game he’s at.

Phil Housley on what the Sabres are focusing on in a down year:

I think we’re just continuing to build for next season. We’ve talked the last 20 games about building off something; I think that was a huge win in Nashville (a 7-4 win, Mar. 31st). We’ve had some good wins but we’ve got to string wins together just to build with our young team [and] build for the future.

Housley on Casey Mittelstadt:

I just like his game. You know, he’s out a month and he steps right into some difficult situations, you know, he played 12 to 13 minutes his first game and 14 (minutes). He’s getting some more minutes. I just like the way he plays. He’s playing well with the puck and he’s playing well without it.


Matchup Stats

TORBUF
Record47-25-7 (101)25-41-12 (62)
GF/g3.29 (3rd)2.38 (31st)
GA/g2.84 (12th)3.31 (29th)
PP%23.8% (3rd)
18.3% (22nd)
PK%81.8 % (10th)78.2% (22rd)
Shots/g32.2 (14th)31.0 (23rd)
Shots Against/g33.8 (28th)32.7 (23rd)
5v5 CF%49.9% (16th)47.3% (28th)
5v5 SV%.927 (9th).919 (22nd)
5v5 SH%9.1% (2nd)6.2% (30th)

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup

Forwards
Hyman – Matthews – Nylander
(78-14-24-38) – (58-31-26-57) – (78-17-39-56) Total: 62
Marleau – Kadri – Marner
  (78-25-19-45) – (76-31-23-54) – (78-22-47-69) Total: 78
Van Riemsdyk – Bozak – Brown
  (78-36-18-54) – (77-11-31-42) – (78-14-14-28)  Total: 61
Martin – Plekanec – Johnsson
 (49-3-9-12) – (74-6-19-25) – (8-1-0-1)  Total: 10

Defencemen
Rielly – Carrick
 (72-6-44-50) – (45-4-8-12) Total: 10
Gardiner – Polak
 (78-5-44-49) – (50-2-9-11) Total: 7
Hainsey – Zaitsev
(76-4-19-23) – (56-5-8-13) Total: 9

Goaltenders
Andersen (.917 sv%)
McElhinney (.933 sv%)

Scratched: Moore, Leivo, Kapanen

Injured: Dermott, Komarov (personal)


Buffalo Sabres Projected Lineup

Forwards
Girgensons – Eichel – Pominville
(70-7-8-15) – (63-25-37-62) – (78-13-18-31) Total: 45
Rodrigues – Mittelstadt – Okposo
  (44-17-14-21) – (2-0-2-2) – (72-13-29-42) Total: 30
Wilson – O’Reilly – Reinhart
  (45-6-7-13) – (77-22-35-57) – (78-23-24-47)  Total: 51
Pouliot – Larsson – Baptiste
 (73-13-6-19) – (76-4-12-16) – (29-4-1-5)  Total: 21

Defencemen
Scandella – Ristolainen
 (78-5-15-20) – (69-6-33-39) Total: 11
Guhle – Nelson
 (15-0-2-2) – (33-3-5-8) Total: 3
Falk – Antipin
(43-1-1-2) – (47-0-10-10) Total: 1

Goaltenders
Johnson (.896 sv%)
Wilcox (N/A)

Injured: Bogosian, McCabe, Josefson, Ullmark, Lehner