Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – This is going to be easy and short.
The Buffalo Sabres were not ready to play on Tuesday against their arch rivals, whose fans took over their building. The Sabres came out and just stood there as the Toronto Maple Leafs skated circles around them, laughed at them, and took a 4-0 first period lead.
Sometimes you just don’t play well, but this team has been absolutely punked in their last three home games.
I saw only one player show any passion or anger after being down 4-0, and that was Alex Tuch. He got mad and played like it. The rest of the team acted like they couldn’t have cared less.
I used to see players on this team get mad when things weren’t going well. What has happened to Dylan Cozens, Ilya Lyubushkin, Rasmus Dahlin and others?
It would be nice just to see them get mad and, at least, put the Leafs on notice that they’re not going to put up with being laughed at.
From a hockey standpoint, Cozens has been good. But where did the fire that he brought to the ice go?
Instead of standing there watching Toronto skate circles around them like it’s the middle of Sunday afternoon on the pond, show them that kind of disrespect will not be tolerated in your home arena. Show them some fire, some fight.
None of that was there.
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You can’t come out in a playoff race against your rival and not be ready to go. You can’t just not show up and play like you don’t care.
Tuch tried his best, and he also stuck around to be held accountable after the game.
“We got a little bit too lazy, and we just weren’t playing our game at all," said Tuch following the 6-3 loss.
“There is no rhyme or reason. Guys just have to look at each other and you’ve got to come ready to play. A lot of it is just effort.”
Tuch said you can overcome bad play at times by weathering the storm, but Tuesday night was different.
“We didn’t as a unit, individually, no one was ready. No one was ready to be a game changer," he said. "It’s a lot easier when all six guys are on the ice working in a cohesive unit, and we weren’t doing that in the first period. One guy was working and the other guys were watching behind him. Honestly, it looked really easy for them out there. We allowed it to be easy for them, and we’ve just got to be better.”
Just like last season when head coach Don Granato would gush about Dahlin every single game, even when he didn’t deserve it, he went on the offense for his goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen before anybody even asked. Luukkonen was just as bad as his teammates were o Tuesday, but Granato wasn’t having it.
“This was not on 'UPL', just so we’re clear on that," said Granato during his postgame press conference. "That change was made because we didn’t have the start.”
It's good to see a coach have his players' back, but in my opinion, Luukkonen needs to shoulder his part of the blame too. He played just 12:09 and gave up four goals on 10 shots.
Before the break, one of the things I liked about Luukkonen was he would make the big save at the big time to help his team win. He needed to make, at least, two big saves in this game, and just like his teammates, he wasn’t up for the challenge.
The 23-year-old played extremely well in San Jose, stopping 33 of 35 Sharks shots, but that doesn’t take away three horrendous games against the Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes.
No, now is not the time to pull the plug on him being their No. 1 goalie, but he has to be better. A lot better.
Every player except Tuch should be embarrassed with themselves for this performance. That was a total no show, no effort, no push back. Nobody cared. That’s not this team.
They better fix it fast, because they next face the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers on Thursday and Friday.
