The Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs meet Thursday at Scotiabank Arena with identical 3-3-1 records, each team looking to shake off a tough loss from earlier in the week. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET, and this marks the first meeting of the season series between the two Atlantic Division clubs. Both sides enter with questions in net and on the injury list, making this Sabres vs Maple Leafs preview a look at who can find consistency first.
Buffalo Sabres Vs Toronto Maple Leafs Game Information
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 15
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
- TV/Streaming: ESPN+, MSGB
- Series: First meeting of the 2026-27 season
How Have Both Teams Looked Recently?
Buffalo dropped its last outing 4-3 in a shootout to the Montreal Canadiens, a game in which Sabres defenseman Olen Zellweger scored twice, according to FOX Sports. The Sabres have split their last five games, going 2-3 with wins over Minnesota and Florida sandwiched around losses to Dallas and Utah. Buffalo carries a minus-6 scoring differential this season, having scored 19 goals while allowing 25, per team season totals.
Toronto has been just as uneven. The Maple Leafs are 2-3 in their last five, including a 6-3 win at Colorado on Oct. 10 followed by a 5-4 loss at Utah on Wednesday. Toronto has struggled against its own division, sitting 0-2-0 against Atlantic Division opponents this season, while Buffalo is 1-0-1 in divisional play, according to FOX Sports.
Who Is Expected To Start In Goal?
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is projected as Buffalo’s starting goaltender, while Sergei Bobrovsky is listed as the probable starter for Toronto, per official NHL data. Neither designation is final until warmups, and both teams have dealt with goaltending depth issues. Buffalo’s Alex Lyon remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and Toronto’s Elvis Merzlikins is out long-term following shoulder surgery.
What Do The Injury Reports Look Like?
Toronto is without defenseman Chris Tanev (upper body), center Dakota Joshua (abdomen), center Max Domi (back surgery) and defenseman Cade Webber (elbow), all on injured reserve, along with Merzlikins. FOX Sports also listed defenseman William Villeneuve as out with a knee injury.
Buffalo’s absences are deeper. Captain Rasmus Dahlin is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, while Matt Grzelcyk (lower body), Conor Timmins (lower body), Jason Zucker (abdomen surgery) and Lyon are all on injured reserve. FOX Sports also noted forward Topias Leinonen (lower body) and defenseman Jack Rathbone (undisclosed) among Buffalo’s unavailable players. The number of absences on both sides means lineup combinations could look different from recent games.
What Is The Key Matchup To Watch?
Special teams could decide which team finds its footing. Toronto is 2-1-0 this season when it scores at least one power-play goal, a split that shows how much the Maple Leafs lean on their man-advantage units to tip games in their favor. Toronto has converted seven power-play goals on the season with a 51.9% faceoff rate, giving the Maple Leafs an edge in puck possession that Buffalo will need to limit.
Buffalo’s offense has leaned on getting pucks and bodies to the net rather than waiting for clean looks. Sabres forward Tage Thompson, Buffalo’s leading scorer with seven points, described that approach after a 4-1 loss to Utah. “It’s hard to score in this league.
Whether you’re fighting the puck or you don’t think you’re generating clean looks, that’s when you just got to get to the net and throw pucks and get bodies there and just get ugly,” Thompson said, according to NHL.com. “I think you get rewarded when you go to the net and good things happen. It’s something that our group can do a lot better job of right now.
I think we’re waiting for a perfect play or a clear lane, a perfect shot, instead of just firing it in and getting bodies there.”
Thompson’s comments point directly to how Buffalo will need to attack a Toronto defense already thinned by injuries to Tanev and Webber.
What To Watch
Both clubs sit at seven points in the Atlantic Division standings, tied with Boston, Ottawa and Tampa Bay near the top of a tightly packed group early in the season. A win Thursday would give either team a share of better divisional positioning heading into the weekend. Buffalo’s road record against division foes and Toronto’s need to solve its own-division struggles make this an early measuring-stick game for both rosters as injury-riddled lineups try to find consistent scoring.
Buffalo continues its stretch with division games on the horizon, while Toronto looks to right itself after back-to-back road losses to Vegas and Utah. Buffalo’s loss to Utah is covered in the Mammoth beat Sabres recap, and the Dallas matchup is detailed in the Stars beat Sabres 4-0 recap.
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