Welcome to Buffalo, home of Jack Eichel, but not Vontae Davis! Anybody else weirded out by Jeff Skinner playing on Jack Eichel’s wing? Yeah? No? It’s a non-John Tavares night, and if you need to catch up on who’s in and who’s out, Katya wrote it all up in the game preview over here. Because it’s a non-Tavares night, let us look back nostalgically to the last time he put on a Leafs jersey: Tavares finds a streaking Marner, who drops it to SUPER KAME LILJEGREN for a rocket of a slap shop. Ullmark stopped it, but JOHN TAVARES WHO IS A LEAF PUTS HOME THE REBOUND! 3-1 LEAFS! [....] A Rielly clearing that’s JUST called off for icing, followed by a nice forecheck by Timashov leads to Tavares stealing the puck and scoring his second goal of the game to seal the win. It’s the second straight pre-season game that Tavares has two goals. 5-3 Leafs. There we have it. How are you going to up the ante, Mr. Auston Matthews? Auston Matthews from Patrick Marleau! 1-0 Leafs pic.twitter.com/lMwm1fPHo8 — Flintor (@TheFlintor) September 20, 2018 GO LEAFS GO Updated lines: #Leafs lines vs. Sabres: Marleau-Matthews-Ennis Johnsson-Lindholm-Kapanen Grundstrom-Cracknell-Moore Clark-Brooks-Bracco Gardiner-Zaitsev Rosen-Ozhiganov Nielsen-Holl Andersen Pickard — Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) September 22, 2018 Andrew Nielsen was added late in the afternoon in place of Andreas Borgman. No idea on why Andreas was removed from the lineup, he skated this morning and looked find. Details after the game. #tmltalk https://t.co/PtzfxsfysZ — Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) September 22, 2018 Surely, he couldn’t have run off and had too much fun in Buffalo.<doc-sep>The Toronto Maple Leafs, or at least some of them, will play host to the Buffalo Sabres tonight in a preseason showdown. The game will feature the most touted pick in the 2018 draft, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. (The Sabres aren’t playing Dahlin, apparently.) Check out our preview here. Come chat and share your thoughts.<doc-sep>The Buffalo Sabres wrapped up the home portion of their preseason schedule on Saturday night, when they welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Keybank Center. Tonight also marked the back half of a home-and-home, which featured a 5-3 Maple Leafs victory on Friday night. Unfortunately for the Sabres, tonight’s result would mirror Friday night’s result. Things would start off relatively well for Buffalo, thanks to a Kyle Okposo power play goal just 4:17 into the game. Look at the flick of the wrist! #Sabres Okposo makes it 1-0 Buffalo with the PP goal. pic.twitter.com/ZhVebI191E — Greg Vorse TV (@GregVorse) September 22, 2018 A very nice shot from Okposo, who found himself with momentum on the half-wall. Okposo continues to build forward momentum as the season draws closer. Toronto would come out for the second period with their foot on the gas pedal. Old friend Tyler Ennis did his part in getting the Maple Leafs offense started, with a nice saucer pass over to Auston Matthews. Without hesitation, Matthews batted the floating puck past Carter Hutton, at 2:42 of the second period. The Maple Leafs were not done there. Less than three minutes later, a point shot into a large scrum would break the tie in favor of Toronto. Jeremy Bracco was credited with the goal at 5:37 but it most certainly was the continued offensive pressure and aforementioned scrum that helped create this goal. At one point in the second, Toronto was outshooting Buffalo 9-1. Not to be outdone, the Sabres were able to turn it on in the second half of the second period. Buffalo was able to make up the eight shot deficit with ease. Late in the second period, pressure was growing in the Sabres offensive zone. Jeff Skinner found himself bouncing around the goalmouth, which proved to be too much for Jake Gardiner. As Gardiner lost Skinner defensively, Skinner was able to grab the puck and backhand it over Fredrik Andersen. Skinner’s goal, at 19:47 of the second period, tied things at 2. Eichel to Reinhart to Skinner We could get used to that pic.twitter.com/7PS6DdMw7D — Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) September 23, 2018 With the game tied heading into the final period, things were understandably tense – even for a preseason game. It would be another Maple Leafs scrum in front of Carter Hutton that would do the Sabres in. Midway through the period, 10:32 into the period to be exact, Calle Rosen’s seeing-eye shot fluttered through a crowd and past Carter Hutton. Rosen’s first goal of the preseason would end up being the difference maker. Buffalo continues to work out the kinks but it does appear that Phil Housley might have found a diamond in the rough with his Skinner – Eichel – Reinhart line. Rasmus Dahlin had himself a rough evening against the Maple Leafs, which can be expected as he continues to adjust to the National Hockey League’s style of play. Final Score: Leafs 3 | Sabres 2 Shots on Goal: Leafs 31 | Sabres 35 Sabres Goals: Okposo (1), Skinner (1) Leafs Goals: Matthews (2), Bracco (2), Rosen (1) Three Stars of the Game 1. Calle Rosen (game-winning goal) 2. Adam Brooks (2 assists) 3. Sam Reinhart (2 assists)<doc-sep>Buffalo Sabres (2-0-0) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0-0) Puck Drop: 7:30 PM | Scotiabank Arena | Toronto, ON TV: MSG-B Radio: WGR 550 SB Nation Maple Leafs Blog: Pension Plan Puppets What to Watch 1. Mixed Roster The Sabres will feature a mix of roster locks, bubble players, and veteran depth in game one of their home-and-home with Toronto. Newly re-signed Sam Reinhart will not dress tonight. 2. The MNT Line As reported by Joe Yerdon during yesterday’s practice, Casey Mittelstadt centered a line with Alex Nylander and Tage Thompson on the wing. If Phil Housley elects to keep them together tonight, they’ll be a trio to pay close attention to. 3. Tonight’s Roster<doc-sep>
Buffalo Sabres (2-1-0) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (3-0-0) Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY TV: MSG-B Radio: WGR 550 SB Nation Maple Leafs Blog: Pension Plan Puppets What to Watch 1. Final Home Preseason Game For Sabres fans in Buffalo, this is your last chance to see the team in person in game action prior to the regular season’s start. After tonight’s game, the Sabres will play three additional preseason games, but all on the road. They’ll travel to Clinton, NY for the Kraft Hockeyville USA game, and then visit the Penguins and Islanders (in Oshawa, Ontario). 2. A Different Leafs Squad Tonight’s opponent will be a completely different roster than last night’s. The Leafs aren’t dressing guys like Connor Brown, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly or John Tavares tonight. Instead, we’ll see players like Auston Matthews, Patrick Marleau, Nikita Zaitsev and Jeremy Bracco. Frederik Andersen and Calvin Pickard will be the Leafs’ goaltenders tonight against Buffalo. 3. Tonight’s Roster Similarly, the Sabres roster for tonight’s game will include a handful of guys who didn’t play last night in Toronto. Among those expected to dress tonight: Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin and Jeff Skinner. Sabres.com shared this potential lineup: Forwards 53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville 71 Evan Rodrigues - 10 Patrik Berglund - 23 Sam Reinhart 95 Justin Bailey - 22 Johan Larsson - 21 Kyle Okposo 20 Scott Wilson - 51 Kyle Criscuolo - 65 Danny O’Regan / 64 Tyler Randell Defensemen 6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 26 Rasmus Dahlin - 19 Jake McCabe 82 Nathan Beaulieu - 4 Zach Bogosian 33 William Borgen Goaltending 40 Carter Hutton 31 Scott Wedgewood 50 Michael Houser UPDATE (10:44 am) - We have an lineup from the morning skate.