at
HSBC Arena, January 29th, 2013
| Puck Drop | TV | Radio | Gamecenter Live |
| 7PM ET | Leafs TV | FAN590 | Probably not |
It's been a long time since I've written a game preview so bear with me. First things first: obviously none of you are silly enough to drive to Buffalo, but if you need tickets to a game use our ticket link up in the header there; it aggregates seats from a bunch of different sources and lets you sort and filter things to find a decent deal, plus they kick some money our way to support the site.
Dion Phaneuf's bad luck hopes to start regressing tonight in Buffalo. Phaneuf has been much better than dullards focused on his +/- will tell you. "He's bad, he can't play defense, look at him fail to tie up that guy's stick on the goal". Seen him good, seen him bad, etc.
The Leafs, for their early season struggles, played their best game in a loss against Buffalo (or more specifically Ryan Miller) last week. They peppered the net with shots while playing what turned in to a late nail biter courtesy of a Nazem Kadri tally:
The Leafs have historically been pretty terrible in Buffalo, going 0-2-1 there last season (though both regulation losses were by a single goal).
Roster Decisions
Per Jonas Siegel it looks like James Reimer gets the nod tonight:
James Reimer looks to be the starter tonight in Buffalo.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) January 29, 2013
Though the Leafs fell apart in the third period on Saturday I thought James Reimer looked fantastic. In limited duty this season he's given solid performances against the Penguins and Rangers and should be given the opportunity to run with this.
Jonas Siegel noted Komisarek is out after getting a piece of "fiberglass" (likely carbon fiber) in the eye doing something Randy Carlyle said "he regrets". That means Mark Fraser and Cody Franson draw into the lineup. Clarke MacArthur is still out with what was initially described as a "lacerated pinky".