The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to salvage the finale of a disappointing five-game homestand Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Maple Leafs fell to 0-3-1 on the homestand with Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche when they averted a shutout on Max Domi’s power-play goal at 18:58 of the third period.
“It’s about this next game now, pulling each other up, helping each other out when things aren’t going well,” Toronto captain Auston Matthews said. “You can’t get down and start to have a bad attitude or be on your own program. Everybody has to stick together even more throughout this.”
The Maple Leafs had another sluggish first period with the Avalanche taking a 2-0 lead and holding a 17-6 advantage in shots on goal.
“We got down 2-0 and it kind of deflated our team,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “We get scored on, a couple goals, and we kind of stop playing. We watch, instead of coming together as a team.”
A neutral-zone turnover led to Colorado’s first goal as mistakes continued to plague the Maple Leafs. Berube said that he met with the team’s leadership group of players Monday morning about putting forth a better effort against the Sabres, who are riding a three-game winning streak after defeating the New York Islanders 5-0 on Saturday. The Sabres are 3-1-0 entering the finale of the trip.
“We have to fix the execution part for me and then the battle level,” Berube said. “When you get down in a game, you have to come together as a team and fight through that. It’s going to happen, we all know that.
“I think losing at home here has worn on our team a little bit, but that’s pro sports and we have to all pull it together here and get ready for Tuesday. We need a win. That’s the bottom line.”
Said Toronto forward John Tavares said: “We just have to raise our level of play and be more consistent. Whether it’s our structure, whether it’s our execution with the puck, all those things. It has to be at a high level consistently.”
Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon made 26 saves against the Islanders to equal a franchise record with nine consecutive wins, dating to Dec. 9. Lyon matched the mark set by Gerry Desjardins in December 1976.
“He’s just given us a lot of real good hockey, battled hard in games,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
“We’re playing so consistently right now, and again, (Saturday), we maybe had a little bit of a lackluster second period, then turned it around,” Lyon said. “That’s what I think we’re getting good at. Maybe when we, emotionally, get a little bit disengaged, we try to get re-engaged. As a goalie, that’s all you can ask for, that consistency.”
The Sabres have won five of their past seven (5-1-1) and are 17-4-1 since Dec. 9. Jason Zucker scored twice Saturday and has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games.
“We need that,” Ruff said. “We need that out of our veteran guys. Not only did he score two goals, but he laid himself out on a big blocked shot, too. I look at that as sometimes being bigger than scoring.”
