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The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to display the annoying trait that has been the bane of their existence for a long period of time, which is losing games to teams that are well below them in the standings. On Saturday, they face that challenge once again as they take on the Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena. The Sabres had an excellent October and were near the top of the division with a 7-3-0 record, but have lost seven straight games and are one point out of last place in the Atlantic.
Where the Sabres are in the standings usually does not matter when they play Toronto, since Buffalo plays their best hockey against the Leafs whether at home or on the road. Last season, the Sabres lost 5-4 at Key Bank Center in Joseph Woll’s NHL debut in November, but won the final three matchups; 5-1 on March 2nd, 5-2 at the Heritage Classic in Hamilton on March 13th, and by the same score in Toronto on April 12th.
"Each season is new and teams are different, but we certainly talked about the fact that we didn't do well against this team last year for sure and we'd like to get off to a good start on the season series tonight." Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Saturday. "I think at times we didn't capitalize on our chances, at times we didn't defend well enough. (Buffalo) have really good players. It felt and seemed like we got their best game every time we played them, and we certainly didn't have ours. So all those things combined, you give them (an) opportunity. they can make you pay for it and that's what happened."
These lost points went a long way toward the Leafs losing the division title to Florida and having to face Tampa Bay in the first round last season. Toronto once again has squandered points in the first quarter this season, with regulation losses to Arizona and Montreal, and overtime defeats against San Jose and Arizona.
The Leafs are 5-1-2 in their last eight games after a bad Western road swing and will stick with the same lineup that lost 3-2 in overtime to New Jersey on Thursday. Matt Murray, coming off two excellent performances in Pittsburgh and against the Devils will make his third straight start in five days against Buffalo.
The Sabres are encountering the same issues with goaltending health that Toronto is going through, as goaltender Eric Comrie suffered a knee injury in a loss to Ottawa on Wednesday. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams indicated that Comrie will be out for weeks. The club has recalled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from AHL Rochester, who will get the lion’s share of the starts with 41-year-old Craig Anderson as his tandem partner.
Luukkonen (who was 6-3-0, with a 3.07 GAA and .898 save percentage in nine starts with the Amerks) will get the start against the Leafs.
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