Sabres head coach Don Granato confirms that Matthews will see a lot of Rasmus Dahlin tonight
The Leafs face a very tough task on Tuesday night with the *checks notes* Buffalo Sabres in town? For one reason or another, the Leafs have had a difficult time with the non-playoff teams this season, and lost their last meeting with the Sabres on March 13th in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Classic.
The Leafs did find a way to pull off a big win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday to clinch a playoff spot with their 100th point of the season, so hopefully they'll steer clear of playing down to their opponent again on Tuesday and take it to the Sabres to redeem themselves for coming out flat in the Heritage Classic.
One interesting storyline to note here is that this is the first meeting between the two clubs since the altercations between Rasmus Dahlin and Auston Matthews, and Dylan Cozens and Michael Bunting. The Leafs have really ramped up the physical play of late, so I'd expect this one to be a spirited battle - especially with 2021 #1 pick Owen Power making his NHL debut for the Sabres. They'll likely be fired up.
On Tuesday morning, Sabres head coach Don Granato revealed that he plans to match up Dahlin with Matthews as much as possible, which should make for an interesting game, considering what happened between the two young 1st overall picks in their last meeting. If you'll recall, Dahlin cross checked Matthews into the Buffalo crossbar, with Matthews earning a 2-game supension for a retaliatory cross check to the shoulder/neck of Dahlin.
The Buds need all the points they can get right now to remain ahead of the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division race to ensure home ice advantage in round 1 of the playoffs. Dropping 2 points to the Sabres could very well end up costing the Leafs that second spot in the Atlantic.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 12 | 200 ANSWERS Sabres head coach Don Granato confirms that Matthews will see a lot of Rasmus Dahlin tonight Will the Leafs get their retribution against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday and pick up the 2 points? | ||
| Absolutely | 140 | 70 % |
| No, they'll Leaf it up somehow | 60 | 30 % |
| List of polls | ||
