Anything that could’ve gone wrong, did for the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs
BUFFALO — Something Jason Zucker said following the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs for their 12th consecutive defeat that summed up the game as well as this brutal run of play.
Zucker was in no mood to talk about another loss and as one of the few grownups in the room on the roster. He’s shouldered the load as the guy to talk to about a lot of these defeats and given that he’s a guy who just got here, that’s a heavy load to bear.
With the way the game played out, Zucker was the unwitting center of attention on the ice when he thought he set up the tying goal in the first period on a slick play to Alex Tuch after Toronto grabbed an early 1-0 lead. Instead, Zucker was found to have committed a high-sticking offense when he got the puck in behind Chris Tanev and in the process of crossing over around him, caught him in the face with his stick.
The referees didn’t see it, play carried on, goal scored, but the offense was caught by one of the linesmen who reported it to the referee while the Sabres celebrated the goal. After a conference, the goal was taken off the board and a high-sticking double-minor was handed out to Zucker instead. Auston Matthews scored with 30 seconds left in the four-minute penalty and instead of a 1-1 game, Toronto had a 2-0 lead and the road to a 12th straight loss was paved.
“I think you got to earn your breaks, and we’re not doing that right now,” Zucker said.
Their 12th straight loss was one where there were some signs of the attitude expressed by Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens on Thursday was apparent. They made it clear that the time for talk was over and the time for doing it—it being winning—was now and the start of the second period had some promising shifts and the kinds of plays with the puck you’d expect from a team that’s got their act together.
But it didn’t take long for Toronto to make it 3-0 and even though J-J Peterka made it 3-1 soon after, it took only 2:05 for the Leafs to make it 4-1 and roll from there.
“There’s such a fine line right now about allowing these guys to gain some confidence,” Lindy Ruff said. “I mean, they’re teetering, obviously. I know that. We’ve got some young guys that I want to just play. I need them to play. You look at what they brought inside the game tonight. I thought we had some guys that really skated well. But for all the good we did we ended up beating ourselves.”
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We’re a little delayed on getting this write-up out because sleeping on things sometimes provides clarity.
But going back over the goals against and the plays made, ultimately this was another disappointing loss to add to the pile with a couple of new twists.
Thinking back to the game against the Canadiens and how a goal 19 seconds in managed to subvert the Sabres effort for the remainder of the game, they managed to keep their heads up after what happened with Zucker. If ever there was a time to pack it in after a play that’s so rarely seen (and in this case, incorrectly handled) this was it.
Linesmen so rarely jump in to make a call and in this case with a high stick, the linesman was supposed to blow the play down right away. There was a high stick, there was bleeding, and since it was the linesman that spotted it, they have to stop play. They didn’t and things played out just like that.
“I’ve never seen that before, to be honest,” Zucker said. “Yeah, I don’t know what else to say. It’s something I’ve never seen happen.”
It’s the kind of rare situation that would make a fan think the fix is in, but instead it was just another fascinating way for things to go against a team that’s a mile deep into a funk.
“I think we’ve pretty well had every scenario now covered off,” Ruff said. “We bounced right back, that line goes out and scores the would’ve been the tying goal, it goes the other way, a double minor. We’ve almost got the penalty killed and we had three failed clears. Again, you know when you don’t get it down the ice it’s going to kill you.”
The Leafs eventually got out to a 5-1 lead midway through the second period, but Mattias Samuelsson made it 5-2 with under five to play in the second and with Matt Murray making his first start in some time for Toronto and how the Leafs weren’t exactly playing like world beaters, it was a game that seemed like it could still be had.
When Owen Power made it 5-3 with 8:04 to play in the third, it was enough to perk up an eyebrow. Power thought he made it 5-4 with 3:26 to play, but a challenge by Toronto for goalie interference showed that Sam Lafferty made contact with Murray’s stick as he skated through the crease. Since challenges that show a guy going through the crease and making any kind of contact with the goalie seem to be the ones that are upheld, it was a quick review and a second goal taken off the board.
A team that’s as down as the Sabres are don’t need help in losing games, but Zucker’s high-sticking penalty and Lafferty hitting Murray’s stick flying by the net were a couple of extra kicks in the sternum while down on the ground. It’s like the meme where a person asks God to stop giving them their hardest challenges only this time God is more like Loki and finding new ways to make the situation difficult.
“I think when you fall behind like that, there’s only one way to dig yourself out of it,” Samuelsson said. “There’s a lot of pride in this group and nobody wants to lose this many in a row, so just try to dig ourselves out of it and push through it. But, obviously, with the two disallowed came up a little short.”
Buffalo’s second period, despite starting well in the first 90 to 120 seconds, was brutal. The team pressed recklessly, they handled the puck poorly and it allowed the Leafs to counterattack and ultimately chase Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the game. Having two straight efforts where Luukkonen takes it on the chin as the team got too loose in front of him is harsh. That Luukkonen might start Saturday night in Boston highlights their need to get it right for him and for him to get it right for himself as well.
“When you’re in this position and you’re trying to play a real aggressive game, if you have one bad read, we’re giving up an odd-number situation,” Ruff said. “And I said, as soon as we start to press or put more risk, we’re a team that hasn’t been able to get by creating versus what we gave up.”
How the Sabres respond to the game against the Bruins and how they handle the matchup Monday night on Long Island where it’s been a den of nightmares for them in recent years will tell us whether or not they can start fresh after the Christmas break with a losing streak behind them or if they’ll return to action in the throes of a 14-game skid.
“You got to earn confidence,” Zucker said. “In order to do that, you got to do the right things consistently, you got to do it every night, and you got to come ready to play. When you start making the right plays and doing the right things, you earn confidence, and we’re not doing that right now.”