Buffalo Sabres vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/12/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

Where to watch: TSN4, MSG-B

DraftKings: Maple Leafs -425, Sabres +310

BetMGM: Maple Leafs -450, Sabres +340

Caesars: Maple Leafs -455, Sabres +350

Sabres: 26-37-11

Maple Leafs: 47-19-6

Not me trying to think of ways that the Buffalo Sabres could knock off the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday in Scotiabank Arena, but the list of those ways is short and probably not enough to sway the opinion no matter how enticing that money line would be.

It’s not necessarily the talent discrepancy, or the fact the Sabres have lost four of five while the Maple Leafs are cruising into the playoffs with quite possibly the best teams they’ve had in a while to go far. But it’s more so there’s not a single person that can stop Auston Matthews right now and that’s a scary thought for teams not in the playoff race.

Matthews is one point from 100 this season and two goals from 60, which even in this day and age with Alex Ovechkin approaching Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, we’ll one day have to consider when Matthews will surpass Ovechkin. It’s wild.

Matthews scored twice for the second straight game Saturday in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, giving him 58 goals in what’s bound to be a successful Hart Trophy campaign at the end of the season. Not just that, but the man scored twice in 27 seconds providing major nightmares for Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault.

"I just think that [the playoff berth] is the next step," Matthews said after Toronto clinched a playoff spot. "This season has been continued progression for us and I think this last segment or so, we've been playing some pretty good hockey and we just want to keep that going."

It’s truly incredible what Matthews has accomplished, and there’s no doubt that he’ll be the one to carry Toronto when it reaches the postseason. But that’s also the problem: He has to be the one to carry Toronto in the postseason because no one else has stepped up over the last five seasons. He needs help. In 32 career playoff games, Matthews has 24 points, which is incredible. But he also only had one goal in the seven-game loss to the Canadiens last season. I don’t think goals will be too difficult to come by this time.

"It's a great accomplishment for our team and with 10 games left, it's a sign you've had an excellent regular season," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We've been preparing and acting, feeling as though we're a playoff team for a long period of time now but certainly to have that official speaks to the process and the work that the guys have put in to this point. And also it just allows us to zoom in and focus even more so on making sure that our game is ready and our team is prepared when the time comes."

The Sabres are still fighting for their future and appear to have ran out of gas despite a promising second half. Buffalo lost its third straight on Sunday in a 5-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning; the three losses have come against Carolina, Florida and Tampa. Not really three teams you can hang your hat on.

"We were clearly not ourselves tonight," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "You can look at the chances we created; we had some extreme golden opportunities to score, but just couldn't convert. Their goaltender played well, but I think we made him look even better."

Not much needs to be said here. It wouldn’t shock me if Matthews reached 60 on Tuesday. Poor Craig Anderson has had too rough of a stretch. Toronto wins going away and the MVP campaign of Matthews continues into a towering inferno. Maple Leafs win 4-0

Sabres are 7-17 against division opponents this season.

Sabres are 20-48 off a road loss over the past three seasons.

Maple Leafs are 19-4 this season after winning four of five games.

Sabres:

Jeff Skinner -- Tage Thompson -- Alex Tuch

Peyton Krebs -- Dylan Cozens -- Vinnie Hinostroza

Rasmus Asplund -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Victor Olofsson

Zemgus Girgensons -- Cody Eakin -- Kyle Okposo

Rasmus Dahlin -- Henri Jokiharju

Mattias Samuelsson -- Jacob Bryson

Mark Pysyk -- Colin Miller

Craig Anderson

Maple Leafs:

Michael Bunting -- Auston Matthews -- Mitchell Marner

Ilya Mikheyev -- John Tavares -- Alexander Kerfoot

William Nylander -- David Kampf -- Pierre Engvall

Wayne Simmonds -- Colin Blackwell -- Jason Spezza

Morgan Rielly -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Mark Giordano -- Justin Holl

Jake Muzzin -- TJ Brodie

Erik Kallgren

Points: Tage Thompson -- 58

Goals: Tage Thompson -- 32

Assists: Rasmus Dahlin -- 35

Goalie: Craig Anderson -- 14-11-2, 3.13 GAA, .899 SV%

Points: Auston Matthews -- 99

Goals: Auston Matthews -- 58

Assists: Mitch Marner -- 59

Goalie: Jack Campbell -- 27-9-5, 2.72 GAA, .912 SV%