Storylines
1. About last night
A pair of disallowed goals interrupted two separate comeback attempts by the Sabres while costly puck decisions allowed the Maple Leafs to capitalize on high-quality chances.
The Sabres fell behind less than two minutes into the game, then had what would’ve been the tying goal taken off the board due to a late high-sticking penalty. In the third period, they appeared to close the gap to 5-4 but had Owen Power’s goal called back for goalie interference.
Toronto finished the game with 13 high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"Shooting ourselves in the foot," said alternate captain Mattias Samuelsson, who scored in the loss. "Poor puck management. To be honest, I don't think Toronto did anything crazy to beat us. We kind of did it to ourselves. They're good team, they have good players. If you feed their transition game, they're obviously going to capitalize. So, yeah, just shooting ourselves in the foot."
Read more in Friday’s Postgame Report.
2. Sticking to the script
Those who spoke after the game agreed that the Sabres’ defensive lapses on Friday were a product of individual plays that deviated from the team’s system.
Ruff attributed some of those decisions to the early 2-0 deficit the Sabres found themselves in, which caused them to play a higher-risk game.
“We’re not a good team at chasing the game,” Ruff said. “As soon as we start chasing the game and putting risk, we expose ourselves too much.”
Prior to their two most recent losses, strong starts had been a hallmark of the Sabres’ game even into the current winless streak. They had opened the scoring in seven of 10 games before falling behind early in Montreal on Tuesday.
If they do fall behind, Samuelsson and others said Friday, they need to trust the framework of their five-man game to get them back in it.
“I think it's just working as a team, more using each other,” Samuelsson said. “I think when we do shoot ourselves in the foot, like in the second, it's maybe a little bit of selfish play or not play that benefits a team. It's more of taking the guy one-on-one and stuff like that when you shouldn't be and (the puck) goes the other way. Yeah, I think just working collectively as a five-man unit on the ice.”
3. Scouting the Bruins
This is the first of four meetings this season between the Sabres and Bruins, who weathered early-season adversity and now sit in playoff position at 17-13-4.
Boston is 9-4-1 in 14 games under interim coach Joe Sacco, who took over for Jim Montgomery on Nov. 19. They have won five one-goal games in that span.
Bruins captain Brad Marchand enters Saturday on an eight-game point streak with five goals and four assists in that span. He leads the team with 13 goals this season and has a team-high eight points on the Boston power play, which ranks 31st in the NHL at 12.7 percent.
David Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 33 points.
