Buffalo opens a home-and-home set against its cross-border rival.
The Buffalo Sabres conclude a run of six straight Atlantic Division games with a home-and-home set against the Toronto Maple Leafs, beginning at KeyBank Center on Friday.
The Sabres and Maple Leafs will then meet for a rematch in Toronto on Saturday.
Buffalo enters Friday’s contest having won three of its past four games, including a 4-2 win on Wednesday over a Detroit team that came to town on a five-game winning streak. Jack Quinn had three points in that game while Colten Ellis made 27 saves to win his NHL debut.
Toronto, meanwhile, has dropped its last two games and is dealing with recent injuries to its defense corps (more on that below).
The rivalry continues at 7 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.
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Jason Zucker left Wednesday’s game during the second period due to an upper-body injury, but he participated in Friday’s morning skate and is expected to play versus Toronto.
It’s a three-goalie room now, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen back from his lower-body injury and AHL conditioning assignment; he stopped 21 of 23 shots for the Amerks on Wednesday. Alex Lyon is expected to start Friday for Buffalo.
Here are the lines from morning skate:
Quinn has a goal and three assists in the last two games. His six points this season are tied for the team lead alongside Josh Doan and Zach Benson.
His offense in the win over Detroit was reminiscent of his rookie success – before he was forced to work his way back from a torn Achilles tendon in summer 2023 – in the sense that it saw Quinn working from the middle of the offensive zone.
On one play, Quinn cut through net-front traffic to set up a Tyson Kozak goal. Later, he scored a one-timer from the high slot.
“When Jack gets to the middle of the ice, you know we’re going to see a real good play,” added Ruff. “But he is skating better right now than probably all of last year.”
The Maple Leafs will be without one of their top defensemen in Chris Tanev, who was placed on injured reserve after sustaining an injury on Tuesday, and may be without another in Morgan Rielly, who is questionable after not practicing Thursday.
If Rielly is out, look for former Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe to man the top pair alongside Brandon Carlo.
Toronto also made changes up front at Thursday’s practice, moving leading scorer William Nylander to the wing alongside Auston Matthews (the spot formerly occupied by Mitch Marner, who departed for Vegas in the offseason).
It will be a relatively new look for the Maple Leafs’ top two offensive players, who have played together only sparingly at 5-on-5 during the past three seasons. Since 2023-24, they’ve shared just north of 550 minutes at even strength (compared to roughly 2,000 apart).
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