Buffalo can throw out four solid lines that can score. Something Pittsburgh can't do. Two great lines versus four very good lines. Prior to the Penguins series with the Capitals, this area of the game would have been no contest. But Pittsburgh seems to have a renewed defensive approach to their game.
Buffalo has seven solid defensemen and four solid back-checking lines.
Johan Hedberg hasn't even played in 20 NHL games yet. If Buffalo exploits his inexperience early, we will all be watching the rest of the Leafs-Devils series in comfort waiting for our next opponent. As for Buffalo's netminder, Dominik Hasek needs to be great. He can't let in soft goals which seem to come around a lot during the playoffs. It's a guarantee Lemieux and Jagr will score against him, but it's the soft goals that could kill the Sabres.