Buffalo Sabres v Toronto Maple Leafs Live

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Arguably the biggest surprise in the Eastern Conference, Tim Connolly and the Sabres played excellent hockey thus far and lead the Northeast Division, 7 points ahead of the Boston Bruins. Thus, the Buffalo Sabres are hoping to hold on to their positive momentum when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

Given the fact that the Leafs were hoping to make some noise in this year’s NHL campaign, fans in Toronto have been very disappointed with the way coach Ron Wilson’s squad played in the first three months of action. More precisely, the franchise from Ontario finds itself alarmingly close to the bottom of the Conference as they posted a mediocre 14-19-9 record. That said, the Leafs improved a bit after their horrendous start into the season, yet they are still 8 points away from the eight playoff seed. Most importantly, Toronto will have to get their act together defensively and prevent their opponents from scoring at will. Halfway through the season, the Maple Leafs are the worst defensive team in the league, having allowed a whopping 145 goals. On the other end of the ice, defender Tomas Kaberle led all scores with 32 assists and 35 points in 42 appearances.

The Sabres on the other hand exceeded all expectations and rallied to an impressive 26-11-4 record. Without any doubts, hardly anyone thought that Buffalo could possibly become a contender for the number one playoff seed, yet Derek Roy and company are among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. So far, the key to success has been their exceptional defense, limiting their opponents to just 2.2 goals per contest. Offensively, the Sabres’ scoring was distributed evenly, albeit Tim Connolly and Derek Roy were able to separate themselves from the pack. Taking everything into consideration, the Sabres will evidently enter their encounter with the Leafs as favorites to clinch a home win. In order to dodge another bullet, Toronto will have to improve its defense by leaps and bounds to stay within striking distance on Saturday.

You can watch all games of the Toronto Maples Leafs and Buffalo Sabres right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.