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The Mutual Benefit Society; Leafs Vs Sabres

April 3, 2012, 2:35 PM ET [657 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
There is a conflict of emotions for many in Leafs Nation as their club faces the Buffalo Sabres in the second of the home-and-home matchup at the First Niagara Center tonight. For those who bleed Blue-and-White, most of the emotional attachment to winning games went out the window weeks ago and with just three games left on the schedule, the only accomplishment to be made is to destroy the playoff aspirations of a division rival, but at the cost of positioning for a higher pick at the NHL Draft on June 22nd/23rd in Pittsburgh.

The Sabres looked a tired bunch in a 4-3 loss in Toronto Saturday night, the Blue and White’s first victory on home ice since February 6th after losing to the Penguins the previous night and blueliner Tyler Myers in the process. Washington won in a shootout over Montreal to move two points ahead of Buffalo for the eighth and final playoff spot with three games to play, but the Caps dropped the ball last night in Tampa, as two late third period goals by Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning a 4-2 victory.

Bucking the trend of the recent past, the Leafs won all three games against Buffalo at the ACC this season, but have lost both contests at the First Niagara Center; 5-4 on December 16th and 3-2 on January 13th.

The Maple Leafs who have been depleted with the injuries to Joffrey Lupul, James Reimer and Nikolai Kulemin will be even further disadvantaged by the loss of forward Mikhail Grabovski to a leg laceration. Center Joe Colborne has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies and will take Grabovski’s place on the second line.

Randy Carlyle will stay with Ben Scrivens in goal after his 29 save performance against the Sabres, but Jonas Gustavsson is healthy enough to return to the lineup, which enabled the Leafs to send Jussi Rynnas back to the AHL.

Ryan Miller will make his 12th consecutive start for Buffalo.

The victory over Buffalo on the weekend may have filled some Leafs fans with the fleeting satisfaction of being a spoiler, but the two points in the standings moved Toronto out of the top five picks in the upcoming draft. That fact is not something that will be on the minds of any Leaf player, coach or member of management, but anyone who looks at drafts from the last decade can see that the percentage of drafting an impact player is dramatically higher in the top five than in picks 6-10.

For the next week, the members of Tank Nation will be rooting for the Sabres, Lightning and Canadiens against the Leafs with the thought that short term pain equals potential long term gain.

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According to Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox, the Maple Leafs hope to sign 2006 draft pick Leo Komarov for next season. The 25 year old Komarov was a member of Finland’s Gold Medal winning club the World Championships last year and has played three years in the KHL, scoring 30 goals and 36 assists in 145 games for Dynamo Moscow.

The 5’10” 187 lb native of Estonia is known as an agitator similar to former NHLer Jarkko Ruutu and would likely translate into a third/fourth line NHLer.

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