Toronto, Ontario (WGR 550) – Even though the NHL Trade Deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. EST, Sabres head coach Don Granato said Wednesday morning that both Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons will be in the lineup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Defenseman Erik Johnson will not play for Buffalo on Wednesday night.
The Sabres beat the Maple Leafs in Toronto, 6-4, back on Nov. 4, and also in Buffalo on Dec. 21, 9-3. I’m sure the Leafs aren’t going to forget either beating.
In those two games, Alex Tuch had two goals and four assists for six points. Jeff Skinner scored three goals.
Devon Levi was the goalie in both wins for Buffalo, but this time, it’ll be Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has played nine-straight games, 13-out-of-14 and 19-of-21. Luukkonen is 19-16-2 this season with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
Buffalo has won 6-out-of-7 on the road and 8-out-of-10. Overall, the Sabres have won 5-out-of-7 games.
For a long time, the Sabres had improved their penalty kill by a lot. However, with one of their best penalty killers - Erik Johnson - missing 4-out-of-7 games, it sunk down. In their last six games, the penalty kill has been just 11-of-17, which is 64.7%.
It’s interesting that the power play has done a complete 180 too, but on the positive end. The Sabres have a goal with the extra man in five-straight games, and 7-out-of-8 contests. In those eight games, they’re 8-of-21, which is 38.1%.
Casey Mittelstadt was back to being Buffalo’s leading scorer with 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points in 62 games. However, the Sabres traded the 25-year-old on Wednesday afternoon to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for 22-year-old defenseman Bowen Byram.
Despite losing their last game to the Boston Bruins, 4-1, Toronto has been red-hot as of late. The Leafs had a seven-game winning streak, and had also won 9-of-10 games.
Auston Matthews leads the NHL in goal scoring with 53 goals in 60 games, which is a 72-goal pace. Despite that, he’s not Toronto’s leading scorer. Matthews has 79 points, which is ninth in the NHL, but Will Nylander has 83 points, which ranks him seventh.
Mitch Marner is also having a great year with 24 goals and 50 assists for 74 points.
Ilya Samsonov was given a wakeup call when he was put on waivers and then sent down to the Toronto Marlies. Since coming back to the Leafs, he’s played in 12-out-of-17 games, going 10-2-0 with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.
Toronto is ninth in the NHL with a points percentage of .639, and second on the power play at 27.8%.
It’s interesting that both Toronto and Buffalo have 24 regulation wins. Toronto has picked up eight loser points, while Buffalo only has four.
Wednesday is a radio only game, so be sure to tune in during "Schopp and the Bulldog" for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Granato, Okposo and Luukkonen.
Losi & Gangi
