Sabres at Maple Leafs preview

SABRES (30-26-8) at MAPLE LEAFS (39-21-4)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN1, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, 3-1-0 in their past four games, have scored at least five goals in each of the three victories. Toronto is three points behind the Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Nic Petan will make his Maple Leafs debut. The forward, acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets for center Par Lindholm on Feb. 25, had two assists in 13 games with the Jets this season.
The Sabres, 2-5-1 in their past eight games, trail the Columbus Blue Jackets by seven points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Sabres center Jack Eichel has nine points (five goals, four assists) in a seven-game point streak.
Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau will play in his 1,640th NHL game and move past Dave Andreychuk for sole possession of seventh place on the League all-time list.

They said it

"We're going to enjoy this [win] and get ready for Toronto on Saturday, and we know it's going to be a tough feat. They're a good hockey team. You know going into overtime, we're going to travel but we'll get the guys regrouped and refocused and try to play a good solid 60 minutes." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley after a 4-3 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday
"It's an exciting time, it's been a while so I'm just going to enjoy it, just work hard and keep things simple. I've never done it before (after a long layoff) so it's a new thing." -- Maple Leafs forward Nic Petan on playing his first game for Toronto

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Evan Rodrigues -- Kyle Okposo
Scott Wilson -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Tage Thompson
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Jason Pominville
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Zach Bogosian
Matt Hunwick -- Brandon Montour
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Casey Nelson
Injured: Casey Mittelstadt (lower body), Vladimir Sobotka (undisclosed)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Patrick Marleau -- William Nylander -- Connor Brown
Nic Petan -- Frederik Gauthier --
Trevor Moore
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin -- Nikita Zaitsev
Martin Marincin -- Igor Ozhiganov
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Scratched: Justin Holl, Tyler Ennis
Injured: Nazem Kadri (concussion), Jake Gardiner (back), Travis Dermott (shoulder)

Status report

Scandella was on the ice along with Nelson but the Sabres did not hold a morning skate. … Kadri participated in the morning skate but did not take line rushes and will not play.

Stat pack

Reinhart has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past four games. … Sheary has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games. … Matthews has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past nine games. … Marner has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past four games.