The Leafs played host tonight to the Buffalo Sabres, their fellow Atlantic-division rebuilder. The Sabres have a number of exciting forward pieces and an abjectly bad defence, headed by Rasmus Ristolainen, possibly the most overrated defenceman this side of Kris Russell. You would expect a sloppy affair with some scoring. You would be right.
First Period
The game had a tense moment in the opening minute as Connor Carrick made a giveaway to Jack Eichel which led to a 2-on-1. Carrick was the “1”; he extricated himself by suicide-rushing the puck and knocking it away from Eichel in a high-risk desperation play.