TORONTO – The Buffalo Sabres had an idea they would be facing a red-hot team Wednesday night in Scotiabank Arena. And now they have the added burden of dealing with a full-throated crowd for the 7:30 faceoff.
The Sabres' top line of Alex Tuch, center Tage Thompson and left winger Jeff Skinner has revealed their defensive deficiencies during a six-game losing streak.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be playing in front of a full house of nearly 19,000 tonight for the first time since Dec. 11, as Ontario Covid-19 capacity limits have been lifted. The Toronto Raptors had their first chance here for Monday's win over the Brooklyn Nets and now it's the Leafs' turn.
The Sabres have not played here since a 5-3 loss on Dec. 17, 2019. They are 0-4-1 in their last five visits and have not won since March 26, 2018.
"It's exciting, it's fun, way better," Sabres coach Don Granato said of having fans in the house. "We played Montreal (in front of no fans in the Bell Centre) and these guys want enthusiasm, adrenalin, excitement. We want the best and we want to play against the best with every opponent. So it's exciting to play the Maple Leafs.
"It's exciting because they're so talented, they're scoring like crazy now and you've got a great building with fans who are going to be into it. We're going to have to deal with all that and that will be good for us."
The Leafs, meanwhile, need a win tonight to pass Florida and Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division. They have won three straight, scoring 18 goals in those games.
"It's great. Any time you play in front of a full building, it's a better experience for sure," said Sabres winger Kyle Okposo. "It's a better atmosphere for us. It gives everybody more energy, not just them. They're going to feed off their crowd and we're going to have to do a better job weathering that."
This is the first of three Buffalo-Toronto meetings the rest of the season. The next is March 13 outdoors at Tim Horton's Field in Hamilton for the NHL Heritage Classic. The teams meet here again on April 11. The lone matchup to date was Toronto's 5-4 win Nov. 13 in KeyBank Center, a victory secured on defenseman Morgan Rielly's goal with 11 seconds left.
The Leafs' last seven home games have been in front of limited crowds. They played in front of no fans for two games, were limited to 500 for two others and played in front of half capacity for their last three. They had 9,410 in the house for last Wednesday's 3-1 win over Minnesota.
"It's everything," Leafs standout Mitch Marner said today of a full house. "It's the feel, the noise, the sights (of fans in Leafs sweaters). Just nice that you don't see many empty seats."
"They're hot right now. They've got a lot of guys putting the puck in the back of the net," Okposo said. "There's no one on our heels tonight. That's not how we win the game. We win the game by being on our toes and trying to go right after them. ... If we're sitting back on our heels, they're just going to pick us apart."
It’s a slate that has the potential to drive fans mad, as the franchise’s focus is on the future, rather than a playoff drought that will reach a league-record 11 seasons.
Marner, playing in his 400th career game, is the NHL's reigning Player of the Month for February with 23 points in 12 games. Auston Matthews, whose 37 goals are tied with Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl for the NHL lead, was named Player of the Week.
The starting goalies will be Craig Anderson (6-7-0, 3.01/.905) and Toronto's Petr Mrazek (9-4, 3.07/.895), who is making a second straight start for the first time this season in place of struggling Jack Campbell.
Buffalo defenseman Colin Miller, on injured reserve with an upper-body injury since Jan. 17, took the morning skate today and was on a extra pair with Will Butcher.
#Sabres AM skate in Toronto: Skinner-Thompson-TuchMittelstadt-Cozens-OkposoAsplund-Krebs-OlofssonBjork-Eakin-Hayden (extras) Jankowski-Hinostroza---Dahlin-BrysonSamuelsson-FitzgeraldHagg-Pysyk(extras) Miller-Butcher---We'll see about the goalie.
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) March 2, 2022
