Maple Leafs at Sabres Tonight

Toronto has been a very inconsistent team this season. They started the season alternating wins and losses, then lost three straight, then won three straight, only to lose to Florida 4-2 on Thursday night. Currently, they are tied with Montreal for second in the Northeast and trail the Sabres by six points. Both Montreal and Buffalo have three games in hand over the Leafs.

Toronto’s success seems to be directly tied to the power play, as they are 1-5 when not scoring a power play goal, and are 6-3 when scoring at least one. So, if Buffalo can stay out of the box tonight they stand a much better chance of winning (duh).

Darcy (Mother) Tucker and Mats Sundin lead the team with 15 points each, and Tucker leads the team with nine goals. Old acquantance Michael Peca has a goal and four assists, and I was surprised he had so few points after I heard one of the TSN guys tell me that Peca “is seeing the ice so beautifully right now,” the other night. Maybe he should try seeing the net instead (brump-bum! I am on FIRE!).

Tonight we will witness one of the major benefits of a vastly increased season ticket base as there will be fewer Leaf fans in attendance than usual. Saturday night Leaf games are always the worst, as the fans have all day to get boozed up (thank you for financially supporting our bars, however) and aren’t in any hurry to leave after the game. But tonight, there’s hope (except for those season ticket holders who pay for their seasons by selling the four Leaf’s games to Toronto fans, friggin’ sellout entrepeneurs).

7:00 start, coverage on MSG and CBC, if you’re so inclined to listen to Bob Cole’s beautiful voice describe things completely incorrectly on Hockey Night in Toronto.

Seriously, though. Growing up in Buffalo, what song, besides “Sabre Dance” meant “Hockey” more than this one:

It’s considered Canada’s second National Anthem, for Pete’s sake.

Open thread to follow later.