The Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs are set to play a pair of contests spanning the 190/QEW divide starting Friday night in Buffalo at 7 pm before meeting again in Toronto on Saturday at 5 pm. Both game times were switched to accommodate the Toronto Blue Jays who play games one and two of the World Series Friday and Saturday, so if you’re checking the hockey game times based on a fridge magnet or a calendar (do people still have those?), you will miss the beginning of these hockey games.

Quick note on the Blue Jays here: it looks like Bo Bichette will have a chance to play in the series after missing almost two months with a strained PCL. Buffalo sports fans (myself included) had an opportunity to see Bo Bichette and Vladdy Jr. in person in Buffalo during the 2021 MLB season when the Blue Jays played their games at Sahlen Field in the Queen City due to covid protocols in Canada. The Jays also played in Buffalo during the 2020 season, but no fans were allowed at the games that season.

The Blue Jays organization committed substantial resources to update Sahlen Field lighting, locker rooms and bullpens and those upgrades are still enjoyed by the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons players and fans. Best of luck to the Blue Jays as they take on Shohei Otani and the Dodgers.

What we have in this hockey game is a great measuring stick game for two teams with very similar win/loss stats: The Leafs enter the game 3-3-1 while the Sabres have a 3-4-0 record through the first seven games. The Maple Leafs will bring back a lot of the same faces they’ve had for the past five plus seasons with one notable exception – Mitch Marner is now playing with Jack Eichel in Las Vegas.

Imagine saying that sentence to Sabres and Leafs fans at the draft back in 2015.

Also missing from the Leafs lineup will be forward Nick Robertson who will be a healthy scratch tonight as the Leafs attempt to trade the 24-year-old forward. No doubt he’s hoping to go somewhere he can play more than 11-12 minutes a night he has played in Toronto over the past few years.

William Nylander is off to a torrid start with 13 points in 7 games, while Auston Matthews and John Tavares are tied for the team lead in goals with four apiece. If you’re looking for a reason why the Leafs record is mediocre, look no further than the depth scoring that they’re getting (or not getting as it were) from their bottom-9: Nicolas Roy, Mattias Maccelli, Max Domi and the aforementioned Robertson all have only 1 point each.

In net, the Leafs are also without starting goaltender Joseph Woll who has been put on long-term injured reserve due to a personal matter, so it will be up to Anthony Stolarz and Cayden Primeau to tend to the crease in his absence. Neither have particularly strong stats this season with save percentages of .894 and .867, respectively.

At the other end of the ice, it will be none other than Alex Lyon who finally got a game off this week as backup Colten Ellis got the start against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Lyon has been sensational for Lindy Ruff’s Sabres this year with his .924 save percentage in six games. It’ll be interesting to see who will get Saturday’s game as the Sabres have recalled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from a rehab assignment in Rochester.

Lindy Ruff said today that the Sabres are still outlining a plan for their three rostered goalies so it looks like they’re going to do Kevyn Adams’s favorite roster gymnastics move of carrying three goalies. That is going to be a fascinating topic moving forward. Colten Ellis – who, granted, has only played one NHL game – looked terrific against the Red Wings and it would be a real shame if they lost him on waivers.

Luukkonen has his work cut out for him if he wants to eat into some of Ellis’s starts, let alone Lyon’s starts.

It also looks like Jason Zucker will have a chance to play at least one game this weekend after an injury scare took him out of Wednesday’s contest, while Michael Kesselring and Jordan Greenway are still out.