Playoff-bound Maple Leafs host struggling Sabres (Apr 01, 2018)

TORONTO -- Despite the distance between the teams in the standings, the Toronto Maple Leafs know better than to take the Buffalo Sabres lightly.

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, 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."