Preview: Sabres head north to face the Leafs in weekend home and home series
Sabres and Leafs open a preseason home and home series tonight in Toronto
Preseason Game 3
Buffalo Sabres vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | Scotiabank Place | Toronto, ON, Canada
TV: MSG
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Maple Leafs Blog: Pension Plan Puppets
What to Watch
1. Ruotsalainen-Cozens-Sheary
The most interesting line to follow tonight will be the trio of Arttu Ruotsalainen, Dylan Cozens and Conor Sheary. The lineup tonight will feature a mostly AHL group, but that line may provide the most intrigue. This may be one of the last games we see of Cozens if the plan is to send him back to juniors. Ruotsalainen is still fighting for a spot on the roster and Sheary will be coming off a strong game against the Penguins.
This line should provide a lot of speed against a fairly NHL-heavy Leafs lineup.
2. Bounce back for Mittelstadt?
Casey Mittelstadt had a tough game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. We’ll see if he can bounce back tonight with a strong performance. It won’t be easy with a strong Leafs lineup. His linemates won’t make it any easier. He’ll be with Kyle Okposo and C.J. Smith tonight.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
C.J. Smith - Casey Mittelstadt - Kyle Okposo
Conor Sheary - Dylan Cozens - Arttu Ruotsalainen
Remi Elie - Vlad Sobotka - Tage Thompson
Curtis Lazar - Kevin Porter - JS Dea
Defense
Jake McCabe - Henri Jokiharju
John Gilmour - Will Borgen
Jacob Bryson - Zach Redmond
Goaltenders
Linus Ullmark
Andrew Hammond