Five former Sabres in deciding games to finish out first round
Two of the eight first-round series will go to a seventh and deciding game, as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins will finish up their best-of-seven at TD Garden on Saturday night, and the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights play on Sunday night.
The Leafs tied the series on Thursday with a 2-1 win at Scotiabank Arena, thanks to a pair of William Nylander goals. Former Sabres Jake McCabe and Ilya Lyubushkin have been stalwarts on the Toronto blueline, as the series has devolved into a more defensive affair after the mysterious absence of Auston Matthews.
McCabe has one goal In the series and is averaging nearly 21 minutes per game, while Lyubushkin has three assists and leads the club with a +5 playing mostly with Leafs top blueliner Morgan Rielly. The Bruins have stuck with Jeremy Swayman since Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark lost Game 2 last week and it is expected Swayman will get the start in Game 7.
In the West, Vegas forced a Game 7 with a 2-0 win on Friday, with Jack Eichel, Brayden McNabb, and William Carrier going scoreless and compiling seven shots on goal. In the other series, Vancouver eliminated Ryan O’Reilly and the Nashville Predators in six games with a 1-0 win on a late Pius Suter goal. Nikita Zadorov was +1 in 20:27 in the win, while Tyler Myers had one shot on goal in nearly 20 minutes.
O’Reilly finished the playoffs with 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) in six games.
Other players who were eliminated:
Brandon Hagel – 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists), -5 in five games, 21:36 TOI
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