maple leafs

The tightening Battle for the Atlantic; Leafs vs. Sabres

Mar 2, 2022 • 10:46 am

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After making up the December games postponed due to the Omicron outbreak, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tight race for top spot in the Atlantic Division, with a one-point margin between the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning and second-place Florida, and one point between the Panthers and the Leafs. While the determining factor could be the five head-to-head meetings with the Lightning and Panthers in the final 29 games, Toronto has to take advantage of matchups against the NHL’s bottom dwellers.

The Leafs have already lost contests to the league’s two worst teams in Montreal and Arizona, and on Wednesday take on the rebuilding Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena. Buffalo has 40 points (16-30-8 record - 29th overall) and has lost six straight, but the QEW rival is well-known for playing Toronto tough no matter how good or bad they are.

The two clubs faced each other on November 13, with the Leafs edging out the Blue and Gold 5-4 in Joseph Woll’s first NHL start. The two clubs will face each other later this month at the Heritage Classic in Hamilton and again next month in Toronto, which could make the points earned or lost the difference in the race for top spot.

The Leafs will go with Petr Mrazek in goal in consecutive starts for the first time this season. Mrazek mopped up for Jack Campbell in the win over Detroit on Saturday and made 30 saves in the 5-3 victory in Washington on Monday. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that the goal for a while has been to get Mrazek more work and that made sense with Campbell’s recent struggles.

In the absence of Jake Muzzin, Keefe is experimenting with his defensive pairings, splitting the top pairing of Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie. Rielly was paired at practice on Tuesday with Rasmus Sandin, while Brodie was partnered with Justin Holl. Travis Dermott and Ilya Lyubushkin are expected to be the bottom pairing, with Timothy Liljegren as the odd man out against the Sabres.

******* Does the placing of Muzzin on LTIR mean that the Leafs will use the opened-up cap space before the March 21 trade deadline? Not necessarily says Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman in his 32 Thoughts column.

Muzzin suffered his second concussion in five weeks against Montreal late last month and he is not going to be rushed back, but Friedman indicates that the club has made it clear that if the 33-year-old blueliner can return before the playoffs, the Leafs will not hold him out simply for the sake of added cap space.

That means that GM Kyle Dubas will be working with considerably less room to fit in a top-four defenseman and possibly a depth forward.

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