| NHL Hockey | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoreboard | | | Playoffs | | | Stats | | | Standings | | | Teams | | | Players | | | Player News | | | Injuries | | | Transactions | | | Home |
Maple Leafs-Sabres Preview
Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres
- Toronto lost, 5-2, to the Rangers on Saturday -- its second straight setback by a combined score of 12-6. The Maple Leafs have two victories this season, both of which have come on the road (at Montreal and at Pittsburgh).
- The Sabres dropped a 3-2 decision to the Capitals on Sunday and have now lost three straight games since beginning the 2012-13 campaign 2-0-0. Including Sunday's setback, Buffalo has been outshot in four straight contests.
- Buffalo defeated Toronto, 2-1, in the two clubs' first meeting this season on January 21. The Sabres have won three straight home games vs. the Leafs and are 10-1-0 against Toronto overall in the last 11 meetings in Buffalo.
- Mikhail Grabovski had a goal and a helper in Saturday's setback, and has now lit the lamp in three straight games overall (one shy of tying his career high). Grabovski has six goals vs. the Sabres since the beginning of 2010-11 -- tied for second most of any skater in the league.
- Thomas Vanek missed the Sabres' last skate vs. the Caps and is listed as day-to-day with an unspecified muscle strain. Vanek, who has tallied at least one point in all four games he's played in 2012-13, leads the Sabres in scoring with nine points (3g, 6a) this season.
- Toronto has allowed nine third-period goals in 2012-13 -- tied with the Islanders and Coyotes for most in the league.
By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
(AP) -- The Buffalo Sabres have lost three in a row and could certainly use Thomas Vanek back on the ice.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, want some goals out of Phil Kessel.
With Vanek's status unclear, the Sabres will try to end their skid and continue their home dominance over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.
Buffalo (2-3-0) beat Toronto (2-3-0) on the road 2-1 on Jan. 21, but has since dropped three straight.
The Sabres' slide continued with Sunday's 3-2 loss at Washington, as Vanek was sidelined by a strained muscle. The left wing had been on the ice for all 11 of his team's goals prior to that contest, scoring three and assisting on six - one versus the Maple Leafs.
Vanek has 16 goals and 13 assists in 24 career home meetings with Toronto, including 18 points during the Sabres' current 10-1-0 stretch at home against their Northeast Division rival.
While health is the concern for Vanek, a lack of production has been the problem for Kessel. He has gone without a point in his last four games, and is without a goal through five contests for the first time since he was a rookie with Boston in 2006-07.
The star right wing had seven goals in his first five games last season en route to 37 and 82 points - both career highs and team bests.
"He's had chances. You want your goal-scorer to feel good about himself, and in some games you see the frustration," coach Randy Carlyle said. "Our message is don't display those things, just go out and focus on the next one - how you can get one and focus on how you can help a teammate get one. Go to those dirty areas and stop in front of the net.
"Shoot the puck. Shoot the puck. He can shoot the puck as good as anybody in the league and that's what we want him to do."
Kessel came up empty on seven shots on goal against the Sabres last week and misfired eight times in his last visit to Buffalo, although he did have three assists in a 6-5 overtime loss April 3.
In that meeting, the Leafs blew an early three-goal lead, and they may be reminded of that after squandering two-goal advantages in their last two games. Toronto surrendered five goals in a row in a 7-4 home loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday before giving up five unanswered to fall 5-2 to the New York Rangers two days later.
"The two games were our worst two games of the year," Carlyle said.
Carlyle may be without Clarke MacArthur, who had the nail on his pinky come off when he was slashed Saturday. He has one goal and two assists in his last three games after setting up James van Riemsdyk's power-play tally at Madison Square Garden.
Defenseman Dion Phaneuf had a tough time in Manhattan, posting a minus-4 rating after putting up a minus-3 against the Islanders.
Jason Pominville is looking to get back on the scoresheet for Buffalo after being held without a point for the first time this season Sunday. He had two points against Toronto last week, and has posted 12 in the past 11 home matchups.
The Sabres must decide if 18-year-old Mikhail Grigorenko will remain with the team or go back to juniors. The 12th overall pick in last year's draft doesn't have a point through five games, and playing one more would use up a year of his entry-level contract.
Updated January 28, 2013
© 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
