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Buffalo Sabres - Toronto Maple Leafs Game Preview

3/14/26 - 7:00pm at KeyBank Center, in Buffalo, NY

Buffalo – 40-20-6 | - 86  points – 1st place in the Atlantic Division

Toronto  – 28-27-11 | - 67 points – 8th place in the Atlantic Division

 

Special Teams

Buffalo

Power Play – 20.6% (16th)

Penalty Kill – 82.7% (4th)

Toronto

Power Play – 20.1% (19th)

Penalty Kill - 83.5% (3rd)

Top Scorers

Buffalo

Tage Thompson: 66 GP, 34 G, 36 A, 70 PTS

Rasmus Dahlin: 62 GP, 13 G, 47 A, 60 PTS

Alex Tuch: 64 GP, 28 G, 29 A, 57 PTS

Toronto

William Nylander: 49 GP, 23 G, 39 A, 62 PTS

Matthew Knies: 63 GP, 17 G, 38 A, 55 PTS

John Tavares: 66 GP, 23 G, 31 A, 54 PTS

Starting Goalies(projected)

Buffalo – Alex Lyon (18-8-3, 2.65 GAA, .914 Sv %)

Toronto   – Anthony Stolarz (7-9-3, 3.4 GAA, .890 Sv %)  

Other Sabres Stories

Who has been the most surprising standout for the Sabres?

Sabres Line Combinations and Pairings (projected)

Forwards

Peyton Krebs  - Noah Ostlund - Tage Thompson 

Zach Benson - Josh Norris - Josh Doan

Jason Zucker - Ryan McLeod - Jack Quinn  

Josh Dunne - Sam Carrick - Beck Malenstyn

Ex. Tyson Kozak

Defense

Bowen Byram - Rasmus Dahlin

Owen Power - Michael Kesselring

Logan Stanley -. Luke Schenn

Ex. Zach Metsa

Goaltenders

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Alex Lyon

Injuries

Justin Danforth (lower body, Oct. 18; injured reserve)

Jiri Kulich (blood clot, Nov. 4; injured reserve - out for the season) 

Conor Timmins (broken leg, Dec. 20; injured reserve)

Jordan Greenway (undisclosed, Jan. 22; injured reserve)

Tanner Pearson (lower body, Mar. 12; day-to-day)

Mattias Samuelsson (lower body, Mar. 12; day-to-day)

Colten Ellis (lower body, Mar. 10; day-to-day)

Notes

The Sabres have earned at least one point in 15 of their last 18 contests (14-3-1), including wins in eight of their last nine games.

Since Dec. 9, the Sabres rank first among all NHL teams in wins (29), 

regulation wins (26) and points (60). They had recorded five more wins, six more regulation wins and eight more points than the next-closest team in that span. If the Sabres record a point tonight, they will earn at least one point in every game of a season series against Toronto for the first time since 2022-23, when Buffalo went 4-0-0 against the Maple Leafs.

Tage Thompson has tallied 47 points (21+26) in 37 games since Dec. 9 and his 19 even-strength goals in that span are the most among all NHL skaters.

Alex Tuch is riding a seven-game personal point streak and he has nine points (6+3) in that span.

Jason Zucker has registered six points (4+2) in his last four contests.

Rasmus Dahlin has recorded 31 points (9+22) in his last 23 games, including 12 points (2+10) in his last seven contests. With one more even-strength point, Dahlin will pass Mike Ramsey on Buffalo’s all-time list for even-strength points by a defenseman and gain sole possession of second place in franchise history.

In his last 26 games dating back to Jan. 6, Ryan McLeod has posted 26 points (5+21) and he leads all Sabres skaters in assists in that span.

Beck Malenstyn has recorded a point in back-to-back games (1+1) and he would match the longest point streak of his career (three games; Nov. 10 to 14, 2023; 2+1) with a point tonight.

Jack Quinn has posted five points (3+2) in his last four games.

Alex Lyon has made 282 saves on 304 shots (.928) in 10 games played since Jan. 20.

Dating back to Jan. 19, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has appeared in six 

games and he has made 194 saves on 212 shots (.915) in that span.

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