Sabres at Maple Leafs preview

SABRES (23-40-12) at MAPLE LEAFS (45-23-7)
7 p.m. ET; TSN4, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, who have won a franchise-record 13-straight home games, matched team marks with their 45th win and 26th home win when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Saturday. Toronto has won 45 games three times previously (1998-99, 1999-00 and 2003-04) and 26 games at home once before (2005-06).
A win would move Toronto within five points of the Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division.
The Sabres have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention. They have lost four games in a row and are 1-5-1 in their past seven. They've been outscored 16-2 during the losing streak despite outshooting their opponents 144-108.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Sam Reinhart has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past six games.
Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner has three goals and eight assists during an eight-game point streak.

They said it

"The Buffalo Sabres will be all we can handle tonight. ... There's no team they'd rather beat than us." - Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock
"Seeing him there, he was one of the best players in the tournament. High skill level, somebody that we can definitely use." - Sabres forward Jack Eichel on watching prospect Casey Mittelstadt play for the United States at the 2018 World Junior Championship in Buffalo. The Sabres signed the 19-year-old center to a three-year contract Monday.

Sabres projected lineup

Scott Wilson -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville
Jordan Nolan -- Johan Larsson -- Sam Reinhart
Benoit Pouliot -- Evan Rodrigues -- Nick Baptiste
Marco Scandella -- Casey Nelson
Rasmus Ristolainen -- Brendan Guhle
Viktor Antipin
-- Josh Gorges
Linus Ullmark
Robin Lehner
Scratched:Justin Bailey, Justin Falk
Injured:Nathan Beaulieu (upper body), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Jake McCabe (shoulder), Jacob Josefson (lower body), Chad Johnson (head)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Andreas Johnsson -- Tomas Plekanec - Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, Dominic Moore, Connor Carrick
Injured:Leo Komarov (left leg)

Status report

Komarov will miss his fifth straight game and remains day to day.

Stat pack

The Sabres have scored one goal or fewer in each of their past four games and have allowed at least three in each of their past six. … The Maple Leafs have scored at least three goals in each of their past eight games, Van Riemsdyk has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in his past six games. Matthews has two points (one goal, one assists) in two games since returning from a 10-game absence with a shoulder injury. Rielly has 11 points, all assists, in his past eight games. Toronto is 23-11 in one-goal games; the Sabres are 10-22.