McPwnage
New member
(16-11-3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs Buffalo Sabres (15-12-3)
full preview: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2011020462
Maple Leafs: Reimer locked in a goaltending duel with Cam Ward of Carolina earlier this week, and after both sides played scoreless hockey for over 55 minutes, Tim Connolly put Toronto on the board by tipping in a Clarke MacArthur shot with 4:14 remaining. While the Hurricanes would come back and force OT on a late goal by Alexei Ponikarovsky, that just set the stage for Connolly to come through again just 44 seconds into the extra period.
"I think he's played really well and he's done all the things that we thought he could do," coach Ron Wilson said of Connolly, who spent the past eight seasons with the Sabres before signing as a free agent. "And it doesn't matter who he plays with, he's going to try to make those people around him better and I think he's done that."
Sabres: This is the finale of a five-game homestand, and Buffalo might be looking forward to hitting the road for a while. The Sabres only have one win on this current stretch at First Niagara Center and are an uninspiring 6-9-3 in their own building this season (they were also credited with a "home" win for beating the Ducks in their season opener in Helsinki, Finland). They led the Senators by a goal heading into the third on Tuesday only to suffer a 3-2 overtime defeat in a game in which they also lost forward Ville Leino to a lower-body injury.
"We've been nowhere near good enough at home all year," said goalie Ryan Miller, who finished with 41 saves. "I don't think it's time to panic, but it's time to build the game that we need to be competitive and be a playoff-caliber team."
