A forgettable second period ultimately did the Buffalo Sabres in on Monday night, as they were taken down by the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena by a final score of 5-3.
Toronto tallied four of their five goals in the middle stanza, emphasized by a stretch of 2:04 where they scored a trio of times against Buffalo netminder Carter Hutton. The Sabres were led on the scoresheet by Jack Eichel's two goals and Sam Reinhart's power play tally.
Let's head inside the locker room to see what Eichel, Linus Ullmark, Reinhart and Phil Housley said after the loss:
Jack Eichel:
On the turning point: "We had seven or eight minutes of bad hockey where we let them get behind us. They're a good transition team. Other than that we played well, and put ourselves in a good position."
Can't blame Hutton: "He's been tremendous the last two games for us and kept us in most games lately. Hard to blame him at all for tonight. That's on us, not on him."
AUDIO: https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-25-jack-eichel-post-game
Linus Ullmark:
Weird being thrust into a game?: "It always is. I thought [Hutton] was playing really well. Just had to make the most of the situation and make the next save."
Dangerous chances given to a dangerous team: "It goes to show how dangerous they are upfront. Have to play a full 60 minutes against this team."
AUDIO: https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-25-linus-ullmark-post-game
Sam Reinhart:
Damning factor in the loss: "We got a little soft in our coverage. Can't be giving that team a six, seven-minute chance. They're too dangerous and will come at you."
Not on the goalie: "That's not on [Hutton]. That's coverage problems on our part. I'm frustrated for him. He's been battling so hard for us and it's unfortunate."
AUDIO: https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-25-samson-reinhart-post-game
Phil Housley:
On the second period: "We talked about expecting a push from them, but it really wasn't about what they did. It's about what we didn't. That is a high-quality team and they pushed hard at the start of the second period."
Decision to pull Hutton: "I was thinking of taking a timeout, but went with the goalie change to try and spark the team and send a message."
On Rasmus Dahlin's difficult shift at the end of regulation: "It's a fluky thing. We had two or three quality looks. It's unfortunate because [Toronto] was tired and the puck hits the referee's skate at the end of all of it."
AUDIO: https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/2-25-phil-housley-post-game
