Postgame Report | Sabres emphasize work following loss to Leafs

TORONTO - Rasmus Dahlin encapsulated the message from coach Don Granato following the Sabres' 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
"Tomorrow, we have a practice and we've got to work," Dahlin said. "It's got to be my best practice of my life. I need to step up, the team needs to step, and it starts with practice, practice habits. We need to be better."
The loss was Buffalo's eighth in a row. Toronto pulled ahead 3-0 during the first period and staved off comeback attempts in part on the strength of a 2-for-3 night on the power play.
Alex Tuch and Casey Mittelstadt scored power-play goals for the Sabres while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 saves in his season debut.
Granato addressed the team afterward, emphasizing the need to work their way out of their current rut.
"I do think it boils down to compete," Granato said. "We didn't have enough guys competing hard enough at the start. I think Dahlin and [Tage] Thompson and [Dylan] Cozens are three guys that stick out to me as tremendous competitive players each and every night. They were very competitive tonight, but we didn't have enough [others] with them early."
The Sabres will return to Buffalo for practice on Sunday. They will have another day of practice on Monday before departing for Montreal and a matchup with the Canadiens on Tuesday.
"We have a resilient group," Tuch said. "We haven't showed that lately, but I have a good feeling we're going to show it down the stretch here."
Here's the breakdown from Saturday's game.

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres played to their aggressive identity out of the gate, but special teams tilted momentum in the Maple Leafs' favor midway through the period and resulted in a 3-0 deficit.
John Tavares deflected a Mitchell Marner shot to for Toronto's first goal with 7:02 remaining in the period, just 13 seconds into the first power play of the night.
"When you come out and you play really strong and you don't capitalize on your opportunities, it can get a little frustrating," Tuch said. "... I guess we just let off. They're a team that capitalizes on momentum."
Calle Jarnkrok found space to shoot from the slot for the Maple Leafs' second goal, scored with 2:33 on the clock. Mark Giordano added a shorthanded goal 54 seconds later.
The NHL offered the following explanation on Giordano's goal, which was scored after the net was knocked out of position by Tuch after he skated back to defend an odd-man rush:
"The Situation Room initiated a video review to examine if the puck entered the Buffalo net in a legal fashion. Video review determined that the puck crossed the Buffalo goal line between the normal position of the goal posts and that Mark Giordano had an imminent scoring opportunity prior to the goal posts being displaced."
PERIOD 2
Tuch redirected a shot from Cozens for a power-play goal to put the Sabres on the board with 9:59 remaining in the period. The goal was made possible by Thompson, who outmuscled Jarnkrok along the half wall to retrieve a loose puck and maintain possession in the offensive zone.

Granato referred to the battle from Thompson as an example of the work ethic the Sabres are seeking consistently.
"It's a perfect example," he said. "Right prior to the first goal was Thompson in battle with Jarnkrok and just determination."
The Sabres earned another power play for an opportunity to cut the deficit to one goal, but their best chance - a shot from Tuch after Jeff Skinner corralled a rebound in front - slid just wide of the net. William Nylander buried a rebound on the Maple Leafs' next power play to make it 4-1.
PERIOD 3
Nylander scored a breakaway goal with 9:23 remaining to extending the lead to 5-1.
Mittelstadt buried a rebound on the power play with 4:53 left on the clock.

What we learned

1. Luukkonen's 18 saves included multiple high-danger stops, including a shorthanded breakaway for Alexander Kerfoot.
"I thought he was really good," Tuch said. "He made a couple really big saves, that one on the breakaway on our power play was really good. I thought he had a big save there. He kept us in it but we kept letting him down."
2. Jack Quinn returned from a two-game absence stemming from a nagging injury and skated on a line with Cozens and fellow rookie JJ Peterka. He skated 15:20 with three shot attempts.
3. Tuch (2+3) and Dahlin (0+3) both extended their point streaks to three games.

Up next

The Sabres play the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7.