maple leafs

Leafs lay down in loss to lowly Sabres; New Convo

Mar 3, 2022 • 7:07 am

Be sure to like HockeyBuzz on facebook!

For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter

*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******

The Toronto Maple Leafs returned home to winners of three straight and within two points of the Atlantic Division lead, facing a team with one of the worst records in the NHL in the Buffalo Sabres, but as has been the case for most of this 52-year-old QEW rivalry, one team plays with purpose, pride and energy and the other seems generally disinterested.

In front of a full Scotiabank Arena for the first time since December 11, the Leafs were thoroughly outworked and outhustled by a Buffalo club that came into the game losers of six games in a row. The 5-1 loss at on Wednesday was the third time that Toronto has lost to a club at or near the bottom of the NHL standings, falling to the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on January 12th and the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on February 21st.

“We care deeply about our fans and we are very fortunate to have a great support system here in Toronto and have them back in the building, but ultimately it’s even more disappointing just with the points that you don’t get.… Defenseman Morgan Rielly said after the game. “If you look at the playoff race, we’re right there and you lose a game like this. That’s the biggest disappointment.…

While there was no one blameless in the disappointing performance, the focal point in the loss was the pairing of Rielly and youngster Rasmus Sandin. The makeshift combination was put together due to the absence of Jake Muzzin, with head coach Sheldon Keefe experimenting in splitting Rielly and TJ Brodie to have a stable veteran on the top two pairings.

Sandin scored in the first period to erase an early Buffalo lead, but the Sabres took control in the second half of the contest, with the pairing on the ice for three of the four even-strength goals by Victor Olofsson, Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner.

“It was terrible from start to finish,… Keefe said of the game. “(We have) been playing well, you had every reason to believe the team was ready to play today, the fans are back home (and we) should have confidence in the way we’ve played here of late. Not good from the start. I like that defended in the first period, I thought we did a good job of that. But offensively, in terms of how we played with the puck, we were really careless and just didn’t have much happening offensively and made one big play that led to a goal, but just offensively tonight we were abysmal... all four lines.…

The defensive experimenting failed miserably for the second time in the last three games, as Rielly and Timothy Liljegren were on the ice for four goals against in Detroit’s third period comeback on Saturday and it cost the Leafs again on Wednesday, with Sandin struggling to play his off side. If this is Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas seeing if there is an internal solution to the club’s defensive woes, it is a clear sign that the Leafs must add a top-four defenseman before the trade deadline.

With the length of Muzzin’s injury in question, Sandin may be adequate to fill in on the left side of the second pairing until he gets back, but there is a gaping hole on the right side and Liljegren, Sandin, Travis Dermott, Justin Holl or Ilya Lyubushkin are capable of filling it.

Dubas has 18 days until the NHL trade deadline and according to many hockey insiders, the Leafs GM is looking to add the best defenseman he can get with the limited cap space he has. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman floated the name of Anaheim blueliner Hampus Lindholm as a potential trade target, but the 28-year-old plays primarily the left side, while teammate Josh Manson plays the right side.

*******