Alex Tuch is in the final year of his contract with the Buffalo Sabres, while being the team's second leading scorer, following a hat-trick in the Sabres win over the LA Kings. As the Sabres continue to solidify their position in the playoff picture, and the trade deadline rapidly approaching, Sneaky Joe believes trading Alex Tuch away would be malpractice and the idea is a complete non-starter. Whether he leaves for nothing in free agency or not. Tuch continues to be a consistent offensive weapon for the Sabres at even-strength and on the penalty kill. What would it take to make a Tuch trade a good idea? Unless there's a better player in the deal, like potentially Elias Pettersson, the Sabres should hang up the phone on any Tuch trade.

Plus, Alex Lyon sets the franchise record with a tenth win in a row, in a game where he stood on his head. The Sabres goalie stats continue to be the best of the entire playoff drought, even with the injuries they've dealt with. And CAN ANYONE IN THE ATLANTIC DIVISION LOSE A GAME!?!? A bad night on the out of town scoreboard featured just one bit of good news, the Panthers losing in St. Louis.

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The Buffalo Sabres walked into Toronto, looking to put the Maple Leafs down in the playoff race, and they did exactly that with a 7-4 win. The hero of this game? Rasmus Dahlin gets his first career hat-trick and two assists to go with it, as he took the game over. Dahlin, who has dealt with so much personally, showing up for the Sabres has been one of the best stories of the season. A look at his goals shows the strength of the Sabres, their defensemen getting into the offensive game. Mattias Samuelsson adds to that with a three-point night himself.

Plus, Colten Ellis comes in for an injured Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and performed very well, turning away 16 of 18 shots. How much can the Sabres trust Ellis going forward? With UPL's injury timeline being cloudy, but only five games to go until the Olympic break, the Sabres may not need Ellis to start more than one game coming up.

Also, big losses by the Red Wings and Panthers, but Montreal and Boston keep pace with the surging Sabres.

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For the first time in a very long time, the Buffalo Sabres are a better hockey team than the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sabres have been getting great goaltending, scoring from their blueline, and a consistent effort from all four lines. Their results have followed suit. Meanwhile up in Toronto, the Leafs are giving up more goals than anyone, can't score on the powerplay, and are sorely missing Mitch Marner. What is wrong with Auston Matthews, who is under a point per game for the first time since his rookie season. Numbers back up that the Sabres are the superior team in almost all aspects. Plus, the Leafs will be without William Nylander and Chris Tanev, good news for the Sabres chances on Tuesday night.

Plus, what both lineups look like tonight. And could the Sabres put Josh Norris on long term injured reserve in order to acquire another great player at the trade deadline? If they're ever going to do it, the Olympic break would be the time, as it's the last year NHL team's can use this trick to create cap space.

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