NHL
The Sabres played like the Leafs used to play a few years back, when the scores were regularly lopsided in the other direction. John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images
TORONTO — As Alex Tuch got a pat on the back from a Buffalo Sabres coach, he burst out laughing.
The Sabres forward had just scored a third-period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs to put the visitors up 5-3. Tuch oozed confidence; his wide grin and laugh were broadcast on the screen for every Leafs fan to see.
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It felt like a dagger to the heart during the 7-4 loss: When was the last time the Sabres could laugh so brazenly during a game against the Leafs? And maybe that goal will end up being one of the final nails in the coffin, too. As Tuch leaned back and continued laughing on the bench, he might have looked up and grabbed a snapshot of the Leafs’ miserable season. They were being outshot on home ice 27-13 and en route to being outshot for the 26th time in 31 home games. Even with goals from Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews, Bobby McMann and Max Domi, the Leafs were sunk by defensive miscues, turnovers and questionable goaltending.
Scotiabank Arena had become lifeless. Later in the third period, after the Leafs gave up a sixth (!) goal, boos could be heard through the arena, in what has become a familiar sound this season.
Tuch’s goal was one of the 25 scored against the Leafs during their five-game homestand. The Leafs lost all five games.
The Sabres were once a bottom-feeding division rival team the Leafs used to regularly beat up on. The Leafs’ deep and talented roster used to rack up two points against teams like the Sabres on home ice easily en route to their highest point totals in franchise history.
Now the tables haven’t just turned: In a proper homage to Buffalo, the tables have been flipped and demolished. The team with the longest active postseason streak was picked apart and forced further out of the postseason picture by the team with the longest active postseason drought.
Maybe an outsider would call it poetic. But inside the Leafs organization, Tuesday’s result has to be more of a wake-up call.
“It’s a huge game. We all know that,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said before the game.
The Leafs can’t ignore where they are in the standings any longer. Any talk of where the team should go from here has to be grounded in that reality: the Leafs didn’t take hold of a game and put up a full 60-minute effort in a game with clear playoff implications. With all due respect to the players on this roster, Tuesday night made it clear there is a gap between a roster of players likely headed to the playoffs and the Leafs.
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The Sabres have a clear, high-end No. 1 defenceman in Rasmus Dahlin, a rare breed that’s hard to find. But landing one can lead to serious change in a team, as evidenced by Dahlin’s hat trick against the Leafs, his first in the NHL.
The Sabres have forward depth: their other four goals came from four different scorers. They played with pace and energy, winning consistent puck battles. And the Sabres are rolling with sky-high vibes right now. Even when they were down in the second period, you never got the sense they thought they were out of the game. That’s the kind of internal belief the Leafs used to have in spades. That desperation helped push them to late-game comebacks often. As much as they might suggest otherwise, the Leafs seem lacking in the season-changing confidence and desperation the Sabres clearly have.
Asked about the Leafs’ sense of desperation, Morgan Rielly said, “I don’t think we’ve had that in our game enough.”
Consider the way Matthews described the Sabres after game.
“They move the puck really well,” Matthews said. “They’ve got a really dynamic defence and forwards as well. They have a very good rush game and skilled forwards up top. And they get a lot of movement in the (offensive zone), which can make it tough.”
It sounds like the way the Leafs used to play a few years ago, when they’d regularly dominate teams like the Sabres. Tuesday’s loss was a reminder that Leafs team is now far in the past.
Now, one game shouldn’t cause a sea change in roster-building approach. But this isn’t about one game for the Leafs. With just one point out of a possible 10 during this home stand, this team now feels more akin to the one that spun nearly out of control in November and December. The stretch when the Leafs got points in 12 of 13 games from late December into early January feels like a mirage.
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Tuesday’s loss, then, was not an anomaly. It was more evidence that this team as assembled cannot continue in hope things will miraculously change for the better.
All five losses during the homestand were against teams now in the top three spots in their respective divisions. The demarcation line is clear. The Leafs now must accept they’re in a different class and adjust their deadline plans accordingly. Buying pieces to make a playoff push — given recent results — is harmful to the organization long-term.
In the short term, the Leafs seemed to single out goaltending for their recent woes.
“We haven’t played our best hockey. There’s definitely good spurts in there, but we can’t allow this many goals,” Knies said. “It’s unacceptable from us, and that’s not going to win us hockey games, to let in goals like that. I think we’ve got to control the first five minutes of each period, last five minutes, just play sound hockey for 60 minutes and that’ll get us in the win column.”
“Until we decide to do things right and keep the puck out of our net — and that’s the goalies included — this is what you are going to get,” Berube said after the game. “We scored enough goals on this homestand to win games, but we didn’t keep the puck out of our net.”
Interestingly, when asked about the Sabres on Tuesday morning, Berube quickly pointed to one element for their recent revival.
“In my opinion, their goaltending has been really good,” Berube said.
The Leafs’ goaltending duo of Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz carried them to their highest highs last season. But the bottom is falling out with their goaltending right now. Woll is having one of the worst stretches of his career. He’s lost his last five games and has allowed 22 goals over that stretch. The typical composure is gone from his game. Right now, Woll seems to be struggling to see the shots in front of him.
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In that sense, no one inside the Leafs should be surprised. Goaltending can be volatile, and it was clear through last season that if they didn’t get elite goaltending, they might be in trouble.
Trouble is now a polite way to characterize where the Leafs stand.
With each of the seven goals the Sabres scored, it was clear the Leafs are not the team they used to be. They are eight points out of a playoff spot with 29 games remaining and four teams between them and the final wild-card spot.
And ignoring that fact is now no longer a laughing matter.
Joshua Kloke is a staff writer who has covered the Maple Leafs and Canadian soccer for The Athletic since 2016. Previously, he was a freelance writer for various publications, including Sports Illustrated. Follow Joshua on Twitter @joshuakloke
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