(WGR 550) - The Sabres learned a lesson in Toronto on Tuesday that they already knew - you're not going to win games in the National Hockey League only playing 20 minutes. They almost pulled it off, but almost doesn't count.
Auston Matthews looked very average in the two games against Buffalo after Thanksgiving, but he looked like the superstar that he is on Tuesday. He scored two highlight reel goals to stake the Leafs to a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.
The first goal, Matthews snuck into the zone coming off the bench. That goal came right after Freddy Andersen made a huge save on Jeff Skinner to open the second period.
Skinner had some chances in this game, but he's on a 26-goal pace and that's just not good enough. Skinner does not have a power play goal, and he was on the Jack Eichel unit for every game until recently.
Buffalo had the better of play for maybe the first four minutes of the game. Skinner sent up Marcus Johansson in front for a one-timer forcing Andersen into the first big save of the game.
Jimmy Vesey turned a puck over the in the neutral zone, and then Brandon Montour knocked the puck off a stick right to an open Frederik Gauthier in the slot and it was 1-0.
Ullmark absolutely stood on his head, making 10 saves in the period, and got the Sabres out of the first period just down one. The Sabres netminder made a huge glove save on an open John Tavares, and was fortunate that the Leafs captain missed the net twice.
Buffalo spent 40 minutes not moving their feet, not engaging in battles and losing 50/50 puck battles.
Buffalo had, maybe, two scoring chances on Andersen in the second. The second one was by Victor Olofsson on a wicked wrist shot that Andersen stopped, but couldn't locate the rebound. His defense did and got the puck out of danger.
Tavares took a penalty at 19:47, so Buffalo started the third period with a power play. Brian Koziol said to me if they have any hope of getting back into the game, they must score on this power play after the intermission.
Rasmus Dahlin took a pass from Eichel and did just that from the point. The assist extended Eichel's point streak to 17 games, which is one game off the Sabres' record.
After that goal, Andersen stood tall on Skinner and Rasmus Asplund, and Rasmus Ristolainen got caught napping. Dmytro Timashov got behind him and walked in alone to score. I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect a big save out of Ullmark there.
Buffalo really turned it on after that.
Sam Reinhart started a terrific breakout play to Olofsson. The Swedish winger went cross-ice to Eichel who flew through the right circle and picked the far corner under the crossbar with a laser. It was Eichel's 24th goal of the season, and the fourth game in a row where he had two or more points.
For most of the evening, it wasn't Conor Sheary's night, but he and Evan Rodrigues went to the net along with Kyle Okposo. Andersen stopped Sheary, but Okposo won battles to get to the rebound and scored into a wide-open cage.
Buffalo continued to press and Eichel drew a penalty on Zach Hyman at 15:31. Buffalo tied the game in Long Island taking advantage of a 6-on-4 power play. With about 35 seconds left with the extra man, Ralph Krueger pulled Ullmark again with over three minutes left in regulation. The move backfired as Johansson had an absolute horrible giveaway that was compounded by Dahlin getting caught flat footed. Ilya Mikheyev just walked in alone on the empty net to ice it.
I don't mind the move at all to pull the goalie that early. They were pressing, and I think an aggressive coach will get you farther than one that just sits back. You can't anticipate that Johansson will make, probably, the worst play he's made since he became a Sabre. Had Buffalo scored, you'd all be calling Krueger a genius.
The Sabres came into the game with only one regulation loss in 10 games. They probably hadn't played that poorly since mid-November. I think the key is get back to what got you picking up 16 out of 24 points. You can't go into a 10-game swoon like November and expect to be in good position.
The next game is in Philadelphia on Thursday, and the Sabres must show they can build on a good third period and recover after a bad game.
