Maple Leafs announce puzzling lineup vs. Sabres

Despite a valiant effort against Utah, Toronto is coming back home off a loss and Jim Hiller surprisingly decided to stick with his guns versus the Buffalo Sabres.

Coming into Thursday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, the Maple Leafs are trying to bounce back from a tough loss against the Utah Mammoth. Though they fought back numerous times, they were unable to tie the game late and skated away as the losers that night.

But there's a lot of hope coming back home as they will have the home crowd cheering them on loud, especially against their cross-border rivals who always bring the intensity that few teams can match.

Maple Leafs projected lineup vs. Buffalo is pretty uninspiring

Though there is a question as to how the lineup will look after the Utah game, and Jim Hiller himself admitted that he wasn't too happy with his team's efforts on Tuesday, and it seems like he's just going to be back with the status quo for now.

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The only real change is that Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start over Anthony Stolarz, who had a very shaky game against Utah and may need some time to reset. Other than that though, this is the projected lineup against Buffalo and it may draw some ire from the fanbase:

Kirill Marchenko - Auston Matthews - Jack Roslovic
Easton Cowan - John Tavares - William Nylander
Gavin McKenna - Nick Paul - Colton Sissons
Brandon Duhaime - Teddy Blueger**

Jake McCabe - Darren Raddysh
Morgan Rielly - Troy Stecher
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Nick Blankenburg

Marshall Rifai

Sergei Bobrovsky (projected starter)
Anthony Stolarz

**Jim Hiller has not confirmed if he is using 11 forwards & 7 defenders or 12 forwards & 6 defenders

Hiller's puzzling decision could cost them against Buffalo

Going by the above lineup, if the team does go with the former rotation, then you'll see Marshall Rifai find himself back in the lineup at times, though expect Blankenburg to shoulder a lot more of the extra minutes if needed.

The forward lines are about what you'd expect, especially with John Tavares returning, but the Maple Leafs had a lot of success with Gavin McKenna alongside Auston Matthews and William Nylander so you'd figure perhaps they would get a look together.

While that would throw the rest of the lineup out of whack, it could be interesting to see how Kirill Marchenko works alongside Easton Cowan and John Tavares. With his elite puck-driving, Cowan's relentless nature and Tavares' ability in front of the net - they could be a dangerous trio.

But if Jim Hiller doesn't make changes before the game instead of halfway through, then it could provide the team with a spark they need as to not fall behind 3-0 yet again this early on.

And Buffalo is the team who is more than happy to make him pay for his stubbornness.

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