The Toronto Maple Leafs took a George Forman right to the jaw Thursday night at Nassau Coliseum as John Tavares' return to the place where he spent his first nine seasons couldn't have gone any worse. Fans on Long Island felt a LeBron James-worthy jilt as the former first overall pick in 2009 took his talents, and his Maple Leafs jammies to the "Center of the Hockey Universe" last summer.
Islanders fans thought they were played by Tavares and they let him known it. They "welcomed" him back with boos, jeers and chants of "where's your jammies," hurled objects at him inside the arena while outside there were the usual insults to his No. 91 sweater from the jersey-buying public. His former team laid a 6-1 thumping on his Maple Leafs, the team he'd dreamed of playing for since he was a kid.
Toronto went into an extremely hostile environment with a playoff atmosphere ratcheted up to 11 and got smoked. How they react is the next page of the story and the Buffalo Sabres are front and center. This will be the second meeting this week between the two clubs. The Sabres jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Monday before the Leafs blitzed them for four unanswered goals in the second period. Buffalo scored a late goal in that frame, came out in the third with a goal nine seconds in and almost tied the game before surrendering a Toronto empty-netter.
The Leafs are 14 points ahead of Buffalo in the Atlantic Division and this meeting (as well as the one on Monday) represents quite the departure from when the teams met back in December. Buffalo had their recent 10-game winning streak fresh in their minds and there was a playoff atmosphere at KeyBank Center. The game had everything a fan could want including overtime where the Leafs came out on top.
Regardless of where either team is in the standings, there's a rivalry between them even if it's only a geographic one as the cities of Toronto and Buffalo are only 100 miles apart. With Toronto looking like it might make some noise in the playoffs and the Sabres struggling to stay on the fringe of the playoff bubble, there's a lop-sidedness when it comes to tonight's game. In fact one Toronto writer dubbed the Sabres a "geo-nemesis" while previewing tonight's matchup.
For as much as Leaf Nation bows at the hockey gods on Mount Maple Leaf while brushing aside the street urchins of Buffalo, the Sabres have actually dominated Toronto over the years. Buffalo's all-time record against the Leafs is 115-71-26. Dating back to the two 2013-15 tank seasons Buffalo has somehow managed a 11-7-4 against their QEW rival, which isn't bad considering they've finished last in three of five seasons prior to this one.
Although past results do not predict future outcomes, a Sabres/Leafs matchup always seems to bring out high-level emotions and we should be in for a good one. Toronto trying to distance themselves from the embarrassment of the Long Island debacle while Buffalo is coming off of a 4-3 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team they're chasing in the standings. It was the second time Buffalo rallied in the third against the Pens and won it in overtime which puts the Sabres 2-0 vs. Pittsburgh on the season.
Props to the Sabres for adopting a never-say-die attitude in the come-from-behind win last night. Former Penguin Conor Sheary did the damage with two goals including the overtime-winner. Captain Jack Eichel continued his roll as his goal extended his point-streak to nine games (5+4) tying his longest string of the season. Eichel seems to gain extra incentive when it comes to playing the Leafs as he's recorded 15 points (10+5) in 11 career games against Toronto.
Without a morning skate one would think that Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley will stick with his winning combination from last night, barring any return from the walking wounded:
Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart
Sheary-Rodrigues-Okposo
Wilson-Mittelstadt-Thompson
Girgensons-Larsson-Pominville
Defenseman Brandon Montour scored his first goal as a member of the Buffalo Sabres last night. Montour scored the game-tying goal with less than three minutes left in the third period and he continues to look good since coming over in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Housley praised the 24 yr. old native of Brantford, Ontario saying Montour "plays to win" and that he's trying to make a difference."
Housley used these d-pairings last night:
McCabe-Ristolainen
Dahlin-Bogosian
Hunwik-Montour
Goalie Linus Ullmark allowed three goals on 44 shots (.931 save percentage) vs. Pittsburgh and was named the game's second star. Ullmark got the win last night and he might be up for a back-to-back with the status of starter Carter Hutton uncertain. Neither of the two have started a back-to-back game for the club this season.
Tonight's game will be televised on NHL Network
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