The LaFontaine/Nolan era in Buffalo got off to a rousing start last night thanks to a 3-1 win over Toronto that featured plenty of effort, forechecking, and timely goals and saves, things which had been sorely missing from Sabres hockey over the past few weeks.
Tonight, it’s a rematch of epic mild proportions as Buffalo travels up to Toronto, who made a deal with Anaheim to help shore up their desperately dry center position. Or, since we’re in Canada tonight, their “centre” position.
Game #22
Buffalo Sabres (5-15-1) at Toronto Maple Leafs (11-7-1)
Puck Drop – 7:00pm EST – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON
TV – MSG, CBC| Radio – WGR 550-AM
SBNation Leafs Blog – Pension Plan Puppets
Three Questions
1. What’s up with the trade Toronto made today? Will those guys factor in to the game at all?
With their top three centers either injured or suspended, the Leafs made a trade today to shore up their pivot. This from NHL.com:
The Maple Leafs traded minor league defenseman Jesse Blacker along with 2014 third and seventh-round draft picks for forwards Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz.
Holland is expected to be in the lineup tonight, and Leafs coach Randy Carlyle has said he’ll get a chance to play with some of the team’s better players. Look for him on one of the top two lines.
2. How will Ryan Miller fare starting in his second game in two days?
Miller’s been a workhorse throughout his career and he’s owned the Leafs for many years, so this does not come as a surprise, but he’s also no spring chicken anymore, and his workload this season has already been significant. Players wanna play, so are Nolan and LaFontaine trying to convince him to stay in Buffalo via playing time? Is Nolan simply trying to look as good as possible to lock up the job permanently? Am I reading too much in to this? Yes, but we’ll keep an eye out anyway.
3. Considering what happened the last time these teams met, will we see any fireworks on the ice between these two teams?
We asked this question yesterday, but didn’t see anything major (pun intended). With two games in a row, will the pot boil over tonight?
Projected BUF Lines
Matt Moulson – Cody Hodgson – Drew Stafford
Steve Ott – Ville Leino – Tyler Ennis
Marcus Foligno – Zemgus Girgensons – Brian Flynn
John Scott – Cody McCormick – Corey Tropp
Christian Ehrhoff – Mark Pysyk
Henrik Tallinder – Tyler Myers
Jamie McBain – Rasmus Ristolainen
Goal: Ryan Miller
Scratches/Injuries/Suspensions: Grigorenko, Larsson, Zadorov, Weber