Count on Matthews igniting Toronto's offense against Buffalo. Can he overcome recent struggles and power the Leafs to a crucial victory?

Everything you need to know about the NHL matchup between the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs, including how to watch and team news.

Welcome back to another edition of NHL Predictions, with us here at Last Word On Hockey. The Toronto Maple Leafs (3-3-1) hit the road Friday night to take on the Buffalo Sabres (3-4-0).

The Buffalo Sabres held a morning skate on Friday before the first of a back-to-back home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs at KeyBank Center. There was good news all around, as Jason Zucker was on the ice and participated fully after leaving the 4-2 victory over Detroit on Wednesday,

After one rehab start in Rochester in which Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won 4-2, he’s back with the Sabres giving them three goaltenders. Alex Lyon gets the start Friday and Ruff said this is a good problem to have,

The Toronto Maple Leafs were already entering the weekend without Chris Tanev, and now they’re forced to play Friday with another notable absence on the blue line.

Two teams in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference standings take the ice when the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-3-1, 11th in conference) visit the Buffalo Sabres (3-4, 14th) at KeyBank Center on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Toronto's last game was a 5-2 home loss to the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 21.

The defence is already stressed by the loss of shot-blocking specialist Chris Tanev, who went on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 21 and will miss at least three games. With Rielly, that represents more than 1,750 NHL games of experience taken out of the lineup, while Philippe Myers and the recalled Dakota Mermis have to be worked in.

Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss at minimum Friday's game against the Sabres due to an undisclosed injury. Toronto is already without Chris Tanev.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday that defenseman Morgan Rielly will not play in their road game against the Buffalo Sabres.

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