NHL LIVE Toronto Maple Leafs vs Buffalo Sabres 30th March 2024 Full Game Reaction
17The Maple Leafs reside in third place in the Atlantic Division and have a four-point lead over fourth-place Tampa Bay with 10 games remaining for both teams.
Toronto bounced back from a 6-3 home loss to New Jersey on Tuesday for a vital 5-1 win over Washington on Thursday. Tyler Bertuzzi scored two goals and Joseph Woll made 23 saves to lead the Leafs.
Auston Matthews, who missed a game with the flu, returned for Thursday's win. He attempted 10 shots and had an assist and heads into Buffalo with a league-leading 59 goals.
After rallying from an early two-goal deficit to win their most recent game and keep their slim playoff hopes alive, the Buffalo Sabres will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night in the second contest of a back-to-back set.
There is little room for error for the Sabres (35-34-5, 75 points), who closed to within six points of the Washington Capitals for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference following Friday's 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Buffalo has eight games remaining, including two against Washington -- although the Capitals have two games in hand.
If Tage Thompson can continue to score goals like he did against New Jersey, Buffalo just might have a chance.
Thompson scored four goals against the Devils to boost his season total to 26. It marked the second time he's scored four or more goals in a game in his career.
Saturday's game with the Maple Leafs (41-22-9, 91 points) will be the third in four nights for Buffalo, which rebounded from an ugly 6-2 loss to Ottawa on Wednesday.
It also will be a key game for Toronto.
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi - Auston Matthews - Max Domi
Bobby McMann - John Tavares - William Nylander
Matthew Knies - Pontus Holmberg - Nicholas Robertson
Connor Dewar - David Kampf - Ryan Reaves
Defencemen
TJ Brodie - Ilya Lyubushkin
Simon Benoit - Jake McCabe
Mark Giordano - Conor Timmins
Goalies
Ilya Samsonov
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Martin Jones, Noah Gregor, Marshall Rifai
Injured: Calle Jarnkrok (hand), Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain), Morgan Rielly (upper body), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Matt Murray (hip), Timothy Liljegren (upper body)
Sabres projected lineup
Forwards
JJ Peterka - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - Jack Quinn
Jeff Skinner - Peyton Krebs - Jordan Greenway
Zemgus Girgensons – Tyson Jost - Victor Olofsson
Defencemen
Owen Power - Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram - Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson - Connor Clifton
Goalies
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Devon Levi
Scratched: Eric Robinson, Kale Clague, Eric Comrie
Injured: Lukas Rousek (upper body), Mattias Samuelsson (upper body)
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