Former Sabre Jake McCabe assisted on Mitch Marner's game-winner in Toronto's 4-3 win over Florida on Wednesday. The Rochester Americans earned themselves some time to heal up and rest with their three-game sweep of the Syracuse Crunch last week, but the club had to await the winner of the Laval-Cleveland series to see who they will face in the next round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Rockets finished off the Monsters in four games, but the clubs will not start their series until next Wednesday, giving the Amerks a 13-day break in between games.
Laval won the AHL North Division with 101 points (nine points ahead of Rochester), which means the Amerks will host the first two games of the best-of-five series on Wednesday and Friday, before heading to Quebec for Games 3, 4 & 5(if necessary) on May 21, 23, and 25.
Other Sabres Stories
It has not been a good start for some former Sabres playing on teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 2-0 deficit in Las Vegas in Game 1 on Tuesday to win over Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2. The two clubs meet on Thursday in Game 2 at T-Mobile Arena.
In Toronto, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, and Dmitri Kulikov’s Florida Panthers are behind the Maple Leafs 2-0 after a 4-3 loss at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. Former Sabre Jake McCabe assisted on Mitch Marner’s game-winner early in the third.
Here is how some former Sabres did in the playoffs on Tuesday and Wednesday:
William Carrier(CAR) 8:38 TOI, 7 Hits
Eric Robinson(CAR) 8:02 TOI, 1 SOG, 2 Hits
Taylor Hall(CAR) +1, 15:57 TOI, 3 SOG, 2 Hits
Mark Jankowski(CAR) 6:17 TOI, 2 SOG, 1 Hit
Ilya Lyubushkin(DAL) 1A, 17:55 TOI, 1 Hit
Evander Kane (EDM) 1A, +1, 14:50 TOI, 2 SOG, 5 Hits
Jeff Skinner(EDM) Did Not Play
Sam Reinhart(FLA) -1, 23:06 TOI, 2 SOG, 4 Hits
Evan Rodrigues(FLA) -2, 8:48 TOI, 2 SOG
Dmitri Kulikov(FLA) -1, 13:47 TOI, 2 Hits
Jake McCabe(TOR) 1A, +1, 21:00 TOI, 2 Hits
Jack Eichel(VEG) 1A, -1, 23:00 TOI, 2 SOG, 1 Hit
Victor Olofsson(VEG) -1, 14:48 TOI, 3 SOG, 1 Hit
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo