Toronto, Ontario (WGR Sports Radio 550) - At the 9:11 mark of the second period, Sabres winger Jack Quinn scored on Buffalo's first scoring chance of the period to give his team a 3-1 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Quinn looked like his old self on Sunday in Toronto, ripping two goals past rookie goalie Dennis Hildeby and shooting with confidence. Quinn scored for the first time all season on a goaltender at 1:03 of the first period on the power play.
Things looked good, as just 1:43 later, Tage Thompson made a beautiful stretch pass off the wall to Zach Benson. Benson found Alex Tuch streaking down the slot, and he made it 2-0, Sabres, early in the opening period.
If this season has taught us anything, a 2-0 early lead is not safe for the Sabres.
Once Quinn made it 3-1 in the second period, the Sabres got tight and in just 2:31, their lead was gone.
It was one of Buffalo's classic cave-in performances.
Bo Byram started wandering towards his partner leaving Nick Robertson free to just go to the net and make it 3-2
That’s the problem, it’s one goal! Just because the other team scores doesn’t mean it's doomsday. Keep playing, keep doing the things that got you the 3-1 lead.
However, they reverted to what they know, which is panic and nervousness to make a mistake.
Just 28 seconds after Robertson’s goal, Henri Jokiharju takes a penalty.
That’s another thing we see quite often from this team: Make a mistake, give up a goal, and then help the other team build the momentum even stronger by heading to the penalty box.
You knew the Maple Leafs would score on the power play, and 53 seconds later, it was tied at 3-3.
Now the Sabres are in full panic mode, and start running around their own end, chasing the Leafs. John Tavares then scored again just 1:10 after his first goal, and Toronto had a 4-3 lead.
There was still 26:09 left in regulation time, and Devon Levi was up from the Rochester Americans to play in the back-to-back. He was spectacular in goal, keeping Buffalo in the game.
There was no response, though, as Levi was the only Sabres player on the ice to show any urgency at all.
Buffalo had two decent scoring chances in the second period: Quinn scored on the first one, and Peyton Krebs was wide-open in the slot but didn’t even make Hildeby make a save with a shot over the net.
The third period was even worse for the Sabres. Levi did everything he could to help his team win, making save-after-save, but his team was nowhere to be found.
Midway through the period, the Sabres were being outshot 12-0, and would end up getting outshot 19-7 in a period where they only needed one goal to tie the game.
However, it was just another close loss in a 10-game losing streak by a mentally soft team, 5-3.
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I have covered Lindy Ruff a long time, and he is an excellent coach. But it seems like he’s out of answers after just 31 games with this group.
"I’m almost lost for words," said Ruff following the loss. "It’s on me to solve this. This is the toughest solve I’ve been around, but it’s on me to get these guys in the right place to win a hockey game. Nobody else, just me."
The next chance comes on Tuesday in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Buffalo has already lost this season to the Canadiens at home, 7-5, as Montreal remains the worst team in the Eastern Conference.