Leafs @ Sabres - Dec. 4th, 7:30pm - TSN4, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

19-8-0, 38 points | 17-8-3, 37 points

Projected Lines

Hyman-Tavares-Marner Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen Johnsson-Kadri-Brown Ennis-Lindholm-Gauthier Rielly-Hainsey Gardiner-Zaitsev Dermott-Ozhiganov Andersen ​

Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart Thompson-Mittelstadt-Okposo Elie-Rodrigues-Sobotka Berglund-Larsson-Girgensons Dahlin-Bogosian Pilut-Ristolainen Beaulieu-Nelson Ullmark​

Scratches

♥William Nylander♥ Martin Marincin Justin Holl ​

Jason Pominville Jake McCabe Matt Tennyson ​

Game Notes

TOR
?Andersen (15-7-0, 2.30 GAA, .931 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?William Nylander is back, baby!!! Just not tonight. Expect Nylander's season debut to come either Thursday or Saturday
?The post-Leivo phase of the Toronto Maple Leafs begins tonight. Expect Gauthier to of coruse draw in with him or Lindholm likely moving to the wing

BUF
?Ullmark (5-0-2, 2.57 GAA, .927 Sv%) will likely start for the Sabres
?The Sabres are probably the surprise team in the NHL this year. They recently won 10 straight games in November, but are 0-2-1 since then. That includes a 2-1 loss last night in Nashville
?If the Sabres are the biggest surprise team then Jeff Skinner is the biggest surprise player. The forward has 20 goals in 28 games, putting him just 1 goal behind Laine for the league lead
?Jack Eichel leads the way in points though with 32 in 28 games. But he's sitting at only 5 goals on the season. Gotta think at some point that 4.3 shooting percentage starts to rise

Injuries

​

?Jake McCabe - Upper Body - Questionable Tuesday ?Jason Pominville - Upper Body- Questionable Tuesday ?Marco Scandella - Injured Reserve - Vertigo ?Conor Sheary - Lower Body - Injured Reserve ?Scott Wilson - Lower Body - Injured Reserve ?Matt Hunwick - Neck - Injured Reserve​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
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[Zee]

Good to see Wee Willy Nylander's name around finally.  Hopefully he's in on Thursday.

 

[dappleganger]

Healthy Scratch! Didn't take long for this contract to look like a mistake.

 

[ZBBM]

Buffalo is a team on the rise.  The streak they had was flukey, but they have several good young players.  I liked the Mittelstadt pick and Dahlin and Ristolainen will be pillars on defense for years to come.

 

[Coco-puffs]

... Ristolainen will be a pylon on defense for years to come.

FIFY

 

[ZBBM]

... Ristolainen will be a pylon on defense for years to come.

FIFY

Heh.  I'd like him on the Leafs.

 

[herman]

♥William Nylander♥

 

[cabber24]

♥William Nylander♥

The "under" 7 million dollar man.

 

[Coco-puffs]

... Ristolainen will be a pylon on defense for years to come.

FIFY

Heh.  I'd like him on the Leafs.

I'm not usually a +/- booster... but man, -7 this year, worst on the Sabres.  He puts up points, but he is just NOT GOOD defensively.  Don't have time to look up advanced stats right now but they have never been good IIRC. 

 

[bustaheims]

Buffalo is a team on the rise.  The streak they had was flukey, but they have several good young players.  I liked the Mittelstadt pick and Dahlin and Ristolainen will be pillars on defense for years to come.

I dunno. I'm not particularly impressed by MiddlingStats.

 

[Coco-puffs]

Buffalo is a team on the rise.  The streak they had was flukey, but they have several good young players.  I liked the Mittelstadt pick and Dahlin and Ristolainen will be pillars on defense for years to come.

I dunno. I'm not particularly impressed by MiddlingStats.

He's barely 20 (Draft + 1 season).  Plenty of time for him to improve.  Remember, Willy Nylander was still in the AHL at the same point in his career and wasn't asked to play Centre at the NHL level right out of the gate.

 

[Kin]

Buffalo is a team on the rise.

They had 6 straight years of top 10 picks, including three picks in the top 2.

So congrats, Buffalo, for being "on the rise".

 

[bustaheims]

He's barely 20 (Draft + 1 season).  Plenty of time for him to improve.  Remember, Willy Nylander was still in the AHL at the same point in his career and wasn't asked to play Centre at the NHL level right out of the gate.

Maybe, but with all the hype that surrounded his joining the Sabres late last season, it not unreasonable to be expecting more from him. I'm not saying he needs to be a superstar out of the gate, but, better than a 27 point pace this season? I don't think that's asking much.

 

[bustaheims]

Right now, Buffalo seems to be built very similarly to Boston - very top heavy upfront. If you can limit their top line's chances, they struggle. Easier said than done, sure, but, nevertheless . . .

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/HennyTweets/status/1070007515616894976

 

[herman]

Imagine Buffalo with O'Reilly now.

Edit:
Imagine the Leafs with Nylander!

 

[Coco-puffs]

He's barely 20 (Draft + 1 season).  Plenty of time for him to improve.  Remember, Willy Nylander was still in the AHL at the same point in his career and wasn't asked to play Centre at the NHL level right out of the gate.

Maybe, but with all the hype that surrounded his joining the Sabres late last season, it not unreasonable to be expecting more from him. I'm not saying he needs to be a superstar out of the gate, but, better than a 27 point pace this season? I don't think that's asking much.

Yeah, a hot end to last year probably built the hype machine up a bit too much for him.  He's not a Top 3 pick.  Most guys drafted between #6 and #10 don't really start making an impact until their Draft + 2 seasons or after:

Examples who didn't really make a big impact until D+2:
- Rantanen
- W. Nylander
- Timo Meier
- Ehlers

And none of those guys are playing C.  And there are guys like Elias Lindholm (5th overall, 2013) that took a few years more to make that impact.

 

[Zee]

Buffalo is a team on the rise.

They had 6 straight years of top 10 picks, including three picks in the top 2.

So congrats, Buffalo, for being "on the rise".

The Oilers of the East.

 

[herman]

Nylander would've been up D+1 if not for the tire fire they deliberately kept him away from.
And when he did come up to close out the Great Tank season, he did get centre minutes (PA Parenteau + Hyman), and acquitted himself well.

 

[ZBBM]

Buffalo is a team on the rise.

They had 6 straight years of top 10 picks, including three picks in the top 2.

So congrats, Buffalo, for being "on the rise".

You people are brutal.  Trying to throw a little love to western NY.