Sabres vs. Maple Leafs preview: division rivals both look for fast start to early season

The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to open the 2013 regular season with consecutive wins when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Toronto managed to defeat the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night and will look for a similar result in their home opener. The game was heavily influenced by special teams play as all the scoring came from power plays. Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak managed to provide the Leafs offense, which is interesting as they were (or are, who knows) rumored as the two key pieces in a potential trade with the Vancouver Canucks for Roberto Luongo.

Rookie goaltender Ben Scrivens earned his first win in his debut stopping all but one of the Canadiens 22 shots on goal. It remains unclear whether head coach Randy Carlyle will let him start the home opener on Monday, or if 24-year-old James Reimer will get the nod.

Buffalo will be entering the contest one day removed from a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Registering three power play goals in the contest, the Sabres also found themselves aided by a potent special teams attack that had six opportunities against Philadelphia. Forward Thomas Vanek managed to score two goals, in addition to registering a point on all five of Buffalo's tallies.

Goalie Ryan Miller registered 27 saves on 29 shots.