Sabres vs. Maple Leafs | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

Rasmus Dahlin is expected to be back in the lineup for the Buffalo Sabres when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at KeyBank Center on Friday.

Dahlin has missed seven games since exiting during the third period of Buffalo’s loss to Colorado on Dec. 3 with back spasms. He returns amid an 11-game winless streak for the Sabres, which continued with a 6-1 loss in Montreal on Tuesday.

The Sabres captain had his sights set forward following Monday’s practice.

“Honestly, I think the best thing is to put it behind us,” Dahlin said. “Everyone has got to put it behind them. You can’t control what’s been done. … All we have to do now is move forward. We have to start on a new page and build.

“You’ve seen a lot of games this year, we are a good team. This is not who we are. I’m excited for the challenge tomorrow. Hopefully we can do something really, really good and start the new page. Anything can happen here in the future.”

The puck drops at 7 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

How to watch

Streaming (nationally): ESPN+ and Hulu

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes (updated 6:55 p.m.)

The Sabres will be without forward Jordan Greenway, who is expected to miss “a significant amount of time” after undergoing surgery to repair a middle-body injury, coach Lindy Ruff said. Greenway’s injury is not expected to be season-ending.

Ryan McLeod is in the lineup after missing Thursday's practice for maintenance.

Sam Lafferty, who has missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury, re-enters the lineup for his first game since Nov. 29, replacing Nicolas Aube-Kubel on the fourth line.

Here’s the full projected lineup from warmups:

Storylines

1. Dahlin’s return

Dahlin’s average ice time of 24:42 leads the Sabres and ranks 11th in the NHL. The Sabres have owned a team-high 58.3-percent share of shot attempts with Dahlin on the ice at 5-on-5, evidence of his ability to efficiently break the team out of its own zone.

“I think any time you get a player of his caliber back it’ll be a big boost to the team,” Ruff said. “First, getting pucks out of your end, the speed going back for pucks, and then he’s a difference-maker with big plays.”

2. Veteran impact

Ruff met with members of the Sabres’ leadership group on Thursday regarding the winless streak.

“We met again today and I said, ‘It's you guys,' this group of five or six that I have that have been around more than the Kulichs and the Bensons and those types of guys,” Ruff said. “It's you guys that I'm handing the puck off to. You're the guys that have to be the difference makers.”

Dylan Cozens said belief remains high within the dressing room.

“I believe in this group,” he said. “I think we all believe in this group. Know we just have to be better. But I do think that, looking at every guy in here, we have the team to win and we have the players to do it. But we’ve been saying that for a while now, it’s about time we go … do it.”

3. Scouting the Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3 in Toronto on Sunday, fueled by a hat trick from forward John Tavares. The Sabres led 3-1 prior to a run of three goals scored in a span of 2:31 by the Maple Leafs during the second period.

Toronto went on to win 5-3 in Dallas on Wednesday, improving to 7-3-0 in its last 10 games.

William Nylander enters Friday on a four-game point streak, with three goals and two assists in that span. He’s tied for fourth in the NHL with 20 goals this season.