TORONTO – With a swarm of Canadian reporters on hand for his pregame briefing, Buffalo Sabres coach Don Granato wasn't offering any clues into his lineup for Monday night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But the Sabres' optional morning skate – attended by virtually everyone on the roster – gave plenty of hints for the 7:30 faceoff in Scotiabank Arena (MSG/WGR Radio).
A welcomed surprise sight and some unexpected absences dominated the chatter at Buffalo Sabres practice on Sunday in KeyBank Center.
There were no line rushes, but winger Alex Tuch, out since Feb. 25 with a lower-body injury, took his regular spot on the No. 1 power play. So did defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who missed practice Sunday and was listed as day to day. Kyle Okposo, who missed practice Sunday due to a maintenance day, was also back.
Said Tuch:"If it (his return) is against our biggest rival tonight, I'll be really excited."
Added Dahlin: "I'm sure everyone has got their stuff going on. It's a part of it, and just keep pushing. I'll see how I feel now in the afternoon."
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The goaltending matchup is expected to be Buffalo's Craig Anderson vs. Toronto's Matt Murray.
The Leafs are 24-6-4 at home, third in the NHL in home points behind Boston (27-3-3) and Tampa Bay (24-6-5). Meanwhile, the Sabres are 10th overall in road points (19-10-2) – but fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 visits to Scotiabank, with the last one being a 5-2 loss on Nov. 19.
The Leafs then blew out Buffalo 6-3 on Feb. 21 in KeyBank Center. That's 11 goals in two games. How do the Sabres cut back on that yield?
"We played a little too loose the first couple of times. So today, the task is, obviously ... to adjust accordingly," Granato said. "To work to minimize that. They're very powerful, explosive offensive team, a prolific offensive team. So you can play very well against them and still give up goals. But there's no question that we can play better in that to that initiative."
Mike Harrington
Sports Columnist
A News staffer since 1987, I'm a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, a 2013 inductee into the Buffalo Baseball HOF and the Buffalo chapter chair of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. And I insist only Chicago & New York can come close to Buffalo pizza.
