TORONTO — Despite the distance between the teams in the standings
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The teams play Monday night at the Air Canada Centre, where the Sabres beat the Maple Leafs 3-2 on March 26.
The Sabres have won two of three games against the Maple Leafs this season, including a split of two games in Buffalo.
While the Maple Leafs are preparing for the playoffs, the Sabres are looking forward to next season.
“We’re just down the road from these guys so it’s always a fun game playing against these guys,” Toronto center Mitch Marner said after the loss to the
Sabres. “They play like a team that’s in the postseason. They play a tight game.
They’re playing pretty well recently and every game we’ve played them they’ve
played us hard. We had a lot of chances we’ve just got to make sure we hit the
net a little more.”
The Sabres are coming off a 7-4 win against the Nashville Predators on Saturday, while the Maple Leafs lost to the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets on
Saturday.
“I’m disappointed, you always want to win each and every night,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said Saturday. “I know looking at the schedule in advance we
were in tough. I thought our second period hurt us. When you don’t have quite as
much juice, you’re not quite as good.
“We made a couple of mistakes there not stopping in the D-zone on a couple of those plays and in the end, it ended up in our net. I didn’t think they
generated a ton and I didn’t think we generated a ton. It was tight. In the end,
they were better.”
The Maple Leafs lost defenseman Travis Dermott to a lower-body injury during the game against the Jets after he blocked a shot, and his status for Monday had
not been determined.
The Sabres, meanwhile, also lost a defenseman during the game at Nashville.
Victor Antipin suffered a concussion
Marcus Davenport Youth Jersey , a broken nose, facial lacerations and dental injuries after being checked into the boards by the Predators’ Scott
Hartnell. Antipin was released from the hospital and was able to travel with the
team when it left Nashville. He is out indefinitely.
The Sabres scored three goals on the ensuing five-minute major. “We were able to make them pay a little bit,” said Sabres center Sam Reinhart, who had a hat
trick.
“It’s never easy to see a teammate get injured,” said Sabres center Jack Eichel, who had a career-best five assists. “It was a good job by our team
responding and putting it on the scoreboard where it counts.”
The five assists matched a club record.
“The guys rallied around Victor and made a point to come out, and that was the difference in the game,” Buffalo coach Phil Housley said.
The Sabres (25-41-12) have the lowest point total in the NHL with 62 and are 3-6-1 in their past 10 games. They are 14-17-7 on the road.
The Maple Leafs (47-25-7) have already set a club record for wins in a season. They are 7-3-0 in their past 10 games.
They plan to pick up their game Monday after a disappointing loss to the Jets.
“I think we can get through the neutral zone a bit better, I thought we turned some pucks over,” Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said after the
game Saturday. “In the D-zone I think we can just be tighter, they got some good
chances but like I said we had periods of the game where we played
well.”
LeBron James is leaving home for Hollywood and an iconic team.The Los Angeles Lakers have a new superstar – L.A.-Bron.
The four-time NBA MVP announced Sunday night that he has agreed to a four-year, $154 million contract with the Lakers, joining one of the league’s
most storied franchises and switching conferences to try and dethrone the Golden
State Warriors and grow his own legacy.
For the second time in his career, James is saying goodbye to the Cleveland Cavaliers
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him.
Unlike his two previous forays in free agency, James did not drag out his decision and made the announcement less than 24 hours after NBA free agency
opened.
This Summer of LeBron was barely a fling.
His management agency, Klutch Sports Group, announced his agreement with the Lakers with a simple, short release. It was a stark contrast from eight years
ago, when a poorly conceived TV special to announce his departure from Cleveland
backfired and damaged James’ image.
James isn’t planning any more comments and there won’t be a welcoming press conference or celebration in Los Angeles, a person familiar with his plans said
Sunday night on the condition of anonymity. James will make his next public
comments on July 30 in Akron when he opens a public school started by his family
foundation.
It was all different this time.
The game’s biggest star will now lead a young Lakers team – run by Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson – that has been overmatched in recent years while
rebuilding. But the Lakers will instantly rise with James, a three-time champion
who after being swept by the Warriors in this year’s NBA Finals said he is still
driven and very much in ”championship mode.”
James wasn’t planning to have any face-to-face meetings, but Saturday night he met with Johnson, who sold him on his vision for the Lakers, the person told
AP. Earlier in the week, Johnson seemed resigned to the possibility he might not
get James or Paul George, who ended up re-signing with the Oklahoma City
Thunder.
But Johnson was confident he could pull something off.
”I’m Magic Johnson,” he said.
The Lakers’ rich legacy is something that has always appealed to James and it wasn’t long after his announcement that he heard from Kobe Bryant
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”Welcome to the family (at)KingJames,” Bryant said on Twitter . ”(hash)lakers4life (hash)striveforgreatness.”
James and Bryant were Olympic teammates and there has been a perceived rivalry between the pair of alpha males. They’re now linked like never before
and if James wants to prepare for his eventual life after basketball, who better
to learn from than Johnson, who has made a fortune as a business entrepreneur,
or Bryant, an Academy Award winner.
The massive Los Angeles market will also provide James with a grander platform for his philanthropy and social activism. He already owns two homes in
Southern California and has a film production company.
This is the third time in eight years James has changed teams. After bolting from Cleveland in 2010, he returned in an emotional homecoming four years later,
determined to make the Cavs champions. The 33-year-old had previously said he
wanted to finish his career in Ohio, and although he’s leaving again, Cavs fans
are more forgiving after he ended the city’s 52-year sport title drought in
2016.
Shortly after the announcement, which came in a surprising manner, James posted a three-photo tribute to Cleveland fans on his Instagram account.
”Thank you Northeast Ohio for an incredible four seasons,” James wrote. ”This will always be home.”
But there will always be a portion of Cleveland fans disappointed that James left again and that he wouldn’t give the Cavs a longer commitment. His deal with
the Lakers is his longest since he signed for six years with Miami in 2010.
And unlike eight years ago when he ripped James for leaving, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert thanked him. Gilbert opened his comments by referring to Cleveland’s
2016 title as ”a championship that united generations of Clevelanders
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”LeBron, you came home and delivered the ultimate goal,” Gilbert said in a statement . ”Nothing but appreciation and gratitude for everything you put into
every moment you spent in a Cavaliers uniform. We look forward to the retirement
of the famous (hash)23 Cavs jersey one day down the line…”
On Friday, James informed the Cavs that he was not exercising his $35.6 million option and becoming a free agent. While in Los Angeles following a
family vacation, he spoke to Cavs general manager Koby Altman moments after free
agency opened on Sunday, and it appears that was more a courtesy than a chance
for Cleveland to make one last pitch.
Cleveland’s roster was exposed during this year’s finals, and James may not have seen a way for it to improve enough to win a fourth title.
James gave Cleveland something to remember in his final season. He played in all 82 regular-season games and then somehow carried a team that underwent
several transformations to a fourth straight conference title and matchup
against the Warriors.
As has been the case in the past, James didn’t have enough help as the Cavs were swept, dropping him to 3-6 in the NBA Finals – a record sometimes used to
compare him to Michael Jordan.
His stay with the Cavaliers will best be remembered for 2016, when he rallied.
