Buffalo Sabres Pregame Versus Toronto Maple Leafs
By Sean McGrath
The Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes are in a tight race for the first overall pick. Separated by four points total, many are wondering, who will be there in the end?
The Sabres have a chance to burn another game tonight, hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs at home tonight. The Leafs come into First Niagara Center in 27th place, an unreachable 14 points away from the top spot.
Surprisingly, Buffalo is currently riding a one game win streak, putting the Coyotes down (pun intended) in their own barn in a 4-1 defeat. Adding to the surprise is the sudden explosion of goals by Andrej Meszaros.
No, this is not an April Fools joke. Through the past two games, Meszaros scored two goals in both the 5-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche and the 4-1 over Arizona.
Either working to show that he deserves a consistent roster spot or that he deserves a trade to a decent team only one third line defenseman away from a contending team, whatever he seems to be doing is working out.
Anders Lindback played in his, in my opinion, strongest outing since coming in the whirlwind trade deadline weekend back in the beginning of March. Earning just his second win in 11 games, Lindback is still holding a strong presence in net, further adding the discussion of who Buffalo will have in net come next season.
Lindback will be making the start in net, with Andrey Makarov taking the seat on the bench as backup.
Tyler Ennis gets his return tonight after missing the past two games with an upper body injury. In addition, Tim Schaller gets the demotion back to Rochester for tonight.
Rasmus Ristolainen is also likely out tonight, after experiencing some sickness this morning and Ted Nolan made the decision to let him sleep it off. He is still in limbo, but likely out
Despite all the time he has missed in the past season, Ennis is still the team leader in goals and total points. His linemate, Matt Moulson, is the only player who tops him in the assist category, notching 27 helpers over Ennis’ 23.
Despite the lack of a significant scorer, it is a relief to see that Tyler Ennis might have tapped into his potential. it remains to be seen if this is just the start, a short ways away or a long way away from what the guy has. To be able to lead a losing team is a hard thing to say, but with the hopeful addition of either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel and the hopeful NHL tenure of Sam Reinhart, there is no telling what sort of numbers Ennis could have.
Throw in the injured Zemgus Girgensons and Evander Kane for good measure and the scale tips heavily.
With the likelyhood of Girgensons being shut down for the rest of the season. Buffalo will enter the offseason with a heavy line of players who are battling injuries/sickness, creating a focus for how players are able to get back to 100% and remain healthy on a more consistent basis.
Toronto’s Jonathan Bernier is expected in net tonight for the Maple Leafs, who are also riding a bit of a winning streak of their own.
With a two-game win streak coming into tonight, including last nights 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, are the Maple Leafs going to continue that steak tonight?
While that is a good question, I couldn’t begin to explain what the outcome would be. Both teams are on a semi same level and this game could go either way.
It’s not surprise that Toronto is lef by the big three of Phil Kessel, James van Reimsdyk and Tyler Bozak providing a hefty amount of the goals and points that Toronto has earned.
Throw in some decent defense from Dion Phaneuf and Jake Gardiner and you have a massive defense that is capable of putting some points on the board from the blue line.
Tonights game could turn out to be an interesting one, one that could be electrified or could be a total dud of a game. Nonetheless, tune into the game tonight at 7:30 p.m. to catch the action!