Other than that, the Toronto coach can’t turn the page fast enough. Tage Thompson had one goal and one assist as the Buffalo Sabers crushed the indifferent Leafs 5-2 to take their turn of the season 3-1-0 against an opponent in the playoffs who started the night with a 37-point lead in Grading. “It was not good,” said Keefe, whose club slipped away from Buffalo with a 5-4 win in November but lost the next three games. “We were non-appearances in all four (games). “It’s hard to spot.” Sabers defender Owen Power – the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft – made his NHL debut after signing a key contract last week. The six-foot-tall player spent two seasons with the Michigan Wolverines before becoming a professional after losing his school in the NCAA Frozen Four. “I was quite calm, but obviously there were some nerves,” said the local from nearby Mississauga, OD, after finishing with almost 20 minutes of freezing time and a plus-2 score. “This is something you dream of as a child.” “Huge job,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said of the 19-year-old. “I had no doubt that he had rehearsed to be in this building and to be in this championship many times. “And it looked like.” The Leafs, meanwhile, could very well look back on these games with the Sabers being rebuilt – and a series of disappointing performances compared to some of the league’s other smaller lights – if they fail to secure a home ice advantage in first round of the playoffs. Performances like Tuesday are also the reason why Toronto is no longer realistic in the match for the first place in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers. “I wish you had no nights like this,” Keefe said. “The reality is that many teams have such nights, which is why many teams do not have 100 points like us. “We have done a lot of good things this season.” Just not tonight – or any other night when the Sabers were on the other side in 2021-22. Kyle Okposo, Jeff Skinner, Rasmus Dahlin and Rasmus Asplund, in an empty net, had the other goals for Buffalo (27-37-11). Alex Tuch and Victor Olofsson added two assists. Craig Anderson made 23 saves for his third consecutive win against the Leafs, including the rural Heritage Classic, as the Sabers became the only team to beat Toronto three times in 2021-22. “You have to keep it in perspective,” Granato said. “This sport could go in the opposite direction. I’re not going to sit here and say we did nothing for the Leafs. “We had a few bounces tonight and took advantage of the breaks.” Timothy Liljegren and Alexander Kerfoot responded in Toronto (47-20-6). Morgan Rielly gave two assists to give him the top 53 in his career this year. Eric Calgren stopped 23 shots. “It was a couple against this team that you leave here disappointed,” Riley said. “Tonight is no different.” NHL leader Auston Matthews saw his 16-point streak end for Toronto, while Mitch Marner’s streak ended in 13 games. “We just didn’t play well,” Matthews said. “From the beginning it did not seem that we had a lot of energy on the bench, a lot of energy on the ice.” Matthews found the net a franchise record 58 times this season on Tuesday, but only once against Sabers. The NHL’s welcome to Power came quickly – it started for Buffalo against Toronto’s top line with Matthews and Marner. The young defender went through this shift unscathed and then broke a 2-on-1 later in the period with the teams playing 4-4 when Mark Giordano tried to find Matthews. “His hockey IQ is falling,” said Matthews, the 2016 No. 1 pick for Power. “He’s not the fancy guy out there, but he looks solid. “Obviously he was out there, he did not look like a rookie playing in his first game.” Okposo opened the scoring in a Buffalo power play at 7:25 in the first period when he beat Kallgren upstairs for his 19th. Looking to become just the third NHLer to reach 60 goals since 1995-96, Matthews had a few chances as the season went on, but Anderson closed the door on every turn. The Leafs made it 1-1 at 2:09 of the second, when Liljegren was bitten on the bench. Matthews was again denied by Anderson with the exclusion a few moments later and appeared to have some conversations with the veteran goalkeeper when the game whistled down. “I’ve known him for years,” said Matthews, who scored four times for Anderson in his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators. “It gave them a chance to win. We had some good chances. He made some big saves.” Buffalo regained the lead with another man advantage when Tuch made a nice move in the neutral zone to set up Thompson, who kicked the elf from his skate on his stick and shot his team’s 33rd at 9:11. Toronto almost equalized again, but Michael Badding’s shot went through Anderson and off the crossbar, before the Sabers’s visitor robbed Liliegren of the goal line. Skinner was dismissed from Kallgren’s glove in the first, Skinner repelled in 4:09 of the third to make it 3-1 with Tuch 31st pass after Matthews forced a pass in the rush, forcing Keefe to put the lines in a blender. “For me, the game is over,” said the coach. “We showed that we are not interested in competing, playing and winning. “I will at least use the time to try some different things.” Buffalo pushed the lead to 4-1 just 1:34 later with Dalin 10th. Kerfoot got a back for the Leafs at 8:50 with his 13th. But Asplund finished it with his seventh in an empty net to get Toronto out of the Sabers misery until next season. “We will get over it,” Keefe said. “We no longer need to play Buffalo this year.” This Canadian Press report was first published on April 12, 2022.
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