The Toronto Maple Leafs will kick off a three-game homestand when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
Toronto collected three points on a three-game road trip out west, capped by a hard-fought 5-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday. John Tavares and his new roommate, Gavin McKenna, scored in the third period as the Maple Leafs came within inches of erasing a three-goal deficit.
“We fought hard at the end, had our opportunities to tie it, but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that spot,” head coach Jim Hiller said after the game.
The Maple Leafs have allowed 16 goals in their last four outings, a trend that could continue during veteran defenseman Chris Tanev’s ongoing absence. Marshall Rifai was called up from their AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies, but saw just 9:04 of ice time against Utah. Offseason acquisition Darren Raddysh (24:39) shouldered a lot of the workload.
“I mean, I don’t know. Different parts of the game it looked like pairs worked and then there were parts of the game where it looked like pairs didn’t work,” Hiller said. “But that wasn’t just the D. Again, that’s everybody.”
Toronto has scored 18 goals over the same timeframe, thanks in part to a resurgent Auston Matthews, who extended his point streak to five against the Mammoth. The captain has recorded 12 points through seven games this season and 38 points in 32 career games against Buffalo.
The Sabres are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the host Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. Olen Zellweger scored his first two goals for his new team, even though they managed just 17 shots on Montreal’s Jacob Fowler.
The single point served as something of a moral victory for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who stopped 35 shots, including a crucial save on Phillip Danault with 3.8 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Finnish netminder’s save percentage was below .800 after three games, but he has stopped 48 of 52 shots since entering Monday night’s game against Florida in relief of Colten Ellis.
“It’s early in the season and you kind of want to turn the ship around as fast as you can and find your game,” said Luukkonen, who may well get a second straight start in Toronto. “So, that’s maybe the positive about this. Of course you want to get the two points. Shootouts are shootouts but still, I think we could have got two tonight. But personally, I think that’s the right step forward.”
Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Panthers and missed the game against Montreal, is doubtful for Thursday’s game, according to coach Lindy Ruff. The star defenseman scored his first career hat trick against the Maple Leafs in January.
Tanev remains on injured reserve for the Maple Leafs after leaving the game in the first period against Colorado on Saturday. Jason Zucker (abdomen) and Matt Grzelcyk (lower-body injury) remain sidelined for the Sabres.
Buffalo has won three of the last four encounters with the Maple Leafs, who have neither won nor lost consecutive games this season.