The scuffling Toronto Maple Leafs try to avoid the embarrassment of a winless five-game homestand on Tuesday night when they conclude it vs. the Buffalo Sabres. The Leafs are -120 on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.

Sabres vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds

You don’t want to say Toronto’s season comes down to this game, but with the team on a four-game skid and about to conclude a homestand before a very tough six-game road trip that spans the break for the Olympics in Italy, well, then Tuesday looks all that much more important. Another bad loss, and we could see some major changes starting with head coach Craig Berube. Toronto is now +270 to make the playoffs with no at -340. The team last missed in the 2015-16 campaign.

The mood is all good around the Sabres despite having the NHL’s longest playoff drought of 14 straight seasons, second-longest among the four major North American pro sports leagues. But it appears that streak will end come April with Buffalo surging since mid-November when the team was 6-8-4 and now sitting third in the Atlantic. The Sabres are -280 for extra hockey with no at +225.

Tuesday is the third of four regular-season meetings between these clubs with Toronto in Buffalo on March 14. The split a home-and-home set in late October, each winning at home. It was 4-3 in OT for the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 25 on a John Tavares overtime goal. He leads the club with three points (1G, 2A) in the season series. Cayden Primeau was in net for that win, while Anthony Stolarz started the Toronto loss. Tage Thompson (3G, 1A) leads Buffalo with four points in the series. Alex Lyon won his start in net and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen lost his.

Toronto is 6-4 in the past 10 meetings overall, and the over-under is 6-3-1.

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo won for the 18th time in 22 games on Saturday, 5-0 at a good Islanders team, and concludes a five-game road trip here. Alex Lyon made 26 saves against New York for his ninth straight win to tie a franchise record (Gerry Desjardins in December 1976), but the team has generally been rotating Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, so it may be UKL in this one — although his road splits aren’t great at 3-6-1 with a 2.95 GAA and .896 SV. Saturday improved the Sabres to a stellar 20-3-1 this season when scoring first.

They have scored five goals in a game 14 times this season, tied for second most in the NHL. Jason Zucker led the way vs. the Islanders with two goals. Tage Thompson scored his team-leading 27th goal to tie Minnesota’s Matt Boldy for the most among players on the Team USA roster heading to the Olympics. Buffalo is 4-9 in its past 13 trips to Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs

We projected the Leafs to lose 4-3 at home to Colorado on Sunday, but it was 4-1 in Toronto’s fourth straight loss. Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood had allowed 11 combined goals in his previous two outings. It’s not that the Leafs played that poorly as they outhit the Avalanche 28-14 and won the face-off circle at 55.9 per cent.

Captain Auston Matthews had six shots on goal but didn’t score for a third game in a row. Toronto’s lone goal, from Max Domi late in the game, came on the power play, and it didn’t allow a Colorado goal with the man advantage. But the Maple Leafs couldn’t contain Brock Nelson as he had a hat trick. Joseph Woll lost his fourth start in a row – in his 100th career NHL game — and has surrendered 16 goals over that span.

It likely will be Anthony Stolarz in this one. He has lost three in a row, giving up 12 total goals. Also on Tuesday, the Leafs will honour the 50th anniversary of Darryl Sittler’s NHL record 10-point game even though it came on Feb. 7, 1976, when he scored six goals and had four assists in an 11-4 Leafs win against Boston at Maple Leaf Gardens. The over is 6-2 in the Leafs’ past eight games.

NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Sabres vs. Maple Leafs?