@boosbuzzsabres
The QEW rivalry between the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs takes center stage in downtown Buffalo beginning at 4:00 ET this afternoon. As per usual with our neighbors to the north and their rabid Southern Ontario fanbase, one should expect a huge influx of Leafs fans decked out in blue and white invading KeyBank Center for the first of four games between the two clubs.
We all know the story when Toronto comes to town. Maple Leaf home games are so high-priced that the average fan finds it rather difficult to afford a game at Scotiabank Arena and those fans who are on the outside looking in are forced to find an alternative. Luckily for them Buffalo is a short, 1 hr. drive down the QEW and Sabres ticket holders are more than happy to sell their tickets, at a nice premium, to Leafs Fans. What inevitably happens is that half of KeyBank Center ends up being Leafs fans and dependent upon the score, the roars for Toronto sound like they're playing a home game.
It's unfortunate for the players on the ice as they would like more of a BillsMafia-type support for a home game, but one can't really blame the fans if they treat their season tickets, or mini-pack tickets, or even single-game tickets as a business proposition.
The Sabres have been mediocre or worse for far too long and as of right now they're headed down a slippery slope towards a rather familiar spot--near the bottom of the league. They're only 2-8-2 in November after getting off to a rather robust 9-2-2 start to the season. Buffalo has had trouble scoring lately, their special teams are a trainwreck and they've been getting hit hard by injuries this month. All of it has added up to unsavory visions of a 2018-19 plummet from the top of the standings to a 27th-overall finish at season's end, which ultimately led to the firing of head coach Phil Housley.
Sabres players are asserting that this year is different, with a different coach and players as well as a different mind-set. It's going to take more than words to convince the Buffalo fanbase that there's truth to what they profess and a good start would be to silence half-the crowd at KeyBank with a win.
That might be something that's easier said than done. The Leafs have been smoking hot since firing head coach Mike Babcock on November 20. Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe made the jump from their AHL affiliate to the bench in Toronto and has his club on a three-game winning streak since taking charge. Keefe seems more in touch with how general manager Kyle Dubas built the Leafs, having coached many of them in the AHL, and his fast, highly-skilled team is dominating.
This afternoon's game will be the first game of a home-and-home between the two clubs a first since 2013-14. Buffalo won the first game at home that season but lost the next one in Toronto. A couple of interesting factoids from Sabres PR, Buffalo is 10-1-2 (two ties) in the home portion of this type series and hasn't lost at home since the first time this occurred back on December 20, 1970 (a 4-2 loss.)
Surprisingly, the Sabres did well against Toronto during their two tank seasons going 4-2-3 vs. the Leafs then followed up with a 3-1-0 mark in 2015-16 to kick off the Jack Eichel era. However since then it's been very tough sledding for Buffalo as they've managed only a 4-7-1 record and are winless in their last five games vs. Toronto (0-4-1.)
The Sabres practiced yesterday and this is what the lines looked like according to reports from the rink:
Olofsson - Eichel - Reinhart
Mittelstadt - Johansson - Vesey
Skinner - Larsson - Sheary
Asplund - Dea/Lazar - Girgensons
Defense pairings were mixed-and-matched throughout practice so no one's sure what they'll look like this afternoon.
Head coach Ralph Krueger may give tonight's start in net to Linus Ullmark who's has been in goal for five of the Sabres last seven games and is 2-2-1 with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
In addition to this latter-afternoon matinee between Buffalo and Toronto, both of their AHL affiliates will be going at it as the Marlies visit Blue Cross Arena to take on the Amerks in a battle of the AHL North Division's two best teams. Rochester is welcoming back head coach Chris Taylor who was last seen behind the bench in Rochester's Game-3 loss against Toronto in the 2019 Calder Cup playoffs. Taylor was behind the bench in Buffalo while Sabres assistant coach Don Granato recovered from a serious bout with pneumonia.
Game time is 7:05
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