Expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to Lose on Saturday Night

The Buffalo Sabres turn into the best team in the league when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs at home, so expect the buds to lose on Saturday night.

For whatever reason, no matter how good or bad either team is, the Buffalo Sabres always seem to get the best of the Toronto Maple Leafs when they’re at home. It’s been 1.5 years since the Leafs have played in Buffalo, so many fans may forget just how dominant the Sabres are against Toronto.

Dating back to 1970, the Sabres have a 72-30-8 record against the Leafs at home.

Although the Sabres arena is filled up with mostly Leafs fans, Toronto can’t seem to win when they play in Buffalo. There’s really no reason as to why this happens, but the Leafs always fail when they make the quick trip across the boarder.

Toronto Maple Leafs Will Be in Tough against Buffalo Sabres Tonight

Despite being viewed as one of the worst teams in the NHL in preseason rankings, the Sabres have a respectful 5-5-2 record to start the season. What’s even more impressive about that start is that they’ve done it without Jack Eichel, who was injured and has now been shipped to Vegas.

Even though their record is decent, the Sabres are still an abysmal team. Their starting goalie is a 40-year-old Craig Anderson and they’re paying Kyle Okopso and Jeff Skinner a combined $15M for the next two years.

To compare that to the Leafs, Toronto is paying their top defender, a top-six winger and number-one defenseman (Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Jack Campbell) just under $14M.

Toronto is clearly the better team all-around but I don’t think that’s going to matter on Saturday night.

Based on the history of the team in Buffalo, following a big home game against the Calgary Flames, Toronto is going to be in-tough against the Sabres. Buffalo will also be playing in a back-to-back match-up, but they’ll be at home and don’t have to travel.

Not only that, but Joseph Woll is expected to get his first career NHL start against the Sabres. The combination of terrible past performances in Buffalo, a rookie goalie and a tired Leafs team may result in a big loss on Monday morning that will send the Toronto media into a frenzy.

Even if Toronto puts up a stinker and loses on Hockey Night in Canada, it’s no big deal. Hopefully I’m wrong and the team dominates the Sabres as they should, but don’t be shocked if they don’t.