The Toronto Maple Leafs face a stiff challenge in the first of a home-and-home matchup with the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center on Friday night. Not only do they have to deal with a club that has traditionally given the Blue and White trouble not matter how good or bad they are, they also have to do it in the wake the Sabres firing GM Darcy Regier and Coach Ron Rolston on Wednesday and being replaced by Hall-of-Fame great Pat Lafontaine and very popular ex-Buffalo coach Ted Nolan.
The Leafs are 2-6-3 against the Sabres since the 2009-10 season at First Niagara Center and split the two games in Buffalo in the lockout shortened 2013 season, with Matt Frattin scoring the game winner in the waning seconds of overtime on January 29 and Buffalo winning 5-4 in a shootout on March 21.
This will be the first meeting between the two clubs since the John Scott – Phil Kessel stick swinging incident on September 22nd, which resulted in the Leafs forward being suspended for the remainder of the preseason and teammate David Clarkson being suspended the first 10 games of the regular season for leaving the bench during the resulting scrum.
Nolan was 73-72-19 in Buffalo from 1995 to 1997 and has always been a proponent of physical hockey, as his previous Sabres incarnation boasted the likes of Rob Ray, Brad May, Matthew Barnaby and Bob Boughner. Nolan stated that Scott would be in the lineup Friday night as his seven game suspension for elbowing Boston’s Loui Eriksson has been served.
You can expect the Buffalo behemoth to tangle with either Colton Orr or Fraser McLaren early in the game and for other Sabres like Steve Ott and Marcus Foligno to be at their most rambunctious.
"I expect it to be a hard and physical hockey game." -Ott on match-up with #Leafs tonight #Sabres
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 15, 2013
Without Kadri, the Leafs are remarkably thin up the middle and will likely go with converted winger James van Riemsdyk, Jay McClement, Jerred Smithson and Trevor Smith, who was called up this morning from the Toronto Marlies.
. @SportChek Player Alert: #Leafs recall Trevor Smith & assign John-Michael Liles to the #Marlies http://t.co/fsUVuvCrZ6
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 15, 2013
According to Leafs TV’s Paul Hendrick, both Smith and rookie Greg McKegg were in Buffalo on Friday, as the Marlies passed through WNY on their way back to Toronto after a 3-1 loss to Lake Erie Friday night. Smith has four goals and eight assists in seven games for the Leafs AHL affiliate and one goal in nine games for the Leafs.
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To make room for Smith on the 23 man roster, the Leafs have sent down defenseman John-Michael Liles.
Kadri had a chance to make a case for being a more integral part of the Leafs offensive attack in the absence of centers Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland, but his performance in the last two weeks likely has not inspired confidence from head coach Randy Carlyle or Leafs GM Dave Nonis. Since Bolland’s injury on November 2, Kadri has registered only one assist and five shots on goal averaging over 18 minutes of ice time.
Per Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, Jonathan Bernier is not taking the optional skate at the FNC, which means that he will likely get the start tonight. With Bernier starting in Buffalo, James Reimer will likely start in Toronto in the second of back-to-back games on Saturday.
The Sabres will start Leafs nemesis Ryan Miller, who has a 29-15-1-1 career record, 2.49 GAA and .921 save percentage against Toronto.
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