Leafs Postgame: Buffalo’s Wild Centres Steal Points

There has to be something possessed about the Leafs right now (and I’m not talking about holding onto the puck). The Leafs, starting the game off with a 2-0 lead against the Buffalo Sabres which they then moved up to a 3-1 lead right before the end of the second period, looked to be in the clear to snap their five-game losing streak. 

But Buffalo fought back, forced overtime, and handed the Leafs their fifth consecutive one-goal loss (and seventh in nine games), albeit this time in a shootout. When it was all said and done, the Leafs were looking up at the scoreboard and seeing a 3 next to their name and a 4 next to Buffalo’s. 

The game started off quite well for the Leafs, seeing recent call-up Nikita Soshnikov continue to ride the wave of his first few games in the NHL, sliding accross this nice pass over to Leo Komarov for the game’s opening goal just 25 seconds into the game.

It wasn’t all smiles for Soshnikov, though, as he exited the game just moments later after crashing hard into the board on a whiffed hit. He did return, but you’d have to hope the medical staff handle the situation properly for a promising young player.

Easy jokes (myself included) were made all around on Twitter for Toronto’s second goal, which resulted when Jake McCabe scored on his own net. It looked at first glance like Brooks Laich had netted it originally, but the replays showed it was just another classic McCabe move at the ACC that resulted in Brad Boyes recieving credit.

Mark Pysyk got the Sabres on the board wth his first goal of the season, cutting the lead in half. Sam Reinhart picked up an assist, in what would be a big night for the young player.

Zach Hyman opened his NHL account with 19 seconds to go in the second period by crashing the net, and the Leafs were cruising heading into the game’s final third.

However, the young Jack Eichel reminded us that currently, he’s arguably the most impressive player on the ice with the brightest future. Eichel nabbed his 20th goal of his rookie season on a slick snapshot that caught Garret Sparks offguard. Eichel doesn’t have Crosby-like numbers, but his goal total is actually higher than anybody on the Leafs this season (Komarov’s goal was his 19th.)

Reinhart then found Evander Kane for a goal with just over nine minutes left in the period to tie it up, in the final regulation goal of the night.

Overtime solved nothing, except for the handing out of five penalites after a scuffle and a tripping call handed out to Nazem Kadri, so the Leafs and Sabres took it to the shootout.

Peter Holland, Jack Eichel, Nazem Kadri all missed, but a fourth consecutive former first-round pick in Sam Reinhart came up with the shooutout’s only goal. 

William Nylander’s first NHL shootout attempt went wide, ending the Leafs’ chances at gaining a second point. Chalk one up for the tank, I guess.

I’ve run out of ways to explain the Leafs dominating the possession charts and continuing to lose games. They probably just didn’t try hard enough.

Zach Hyman earns his first NHL goal and his first spot in the Blue Warrior column.

The Leafs host the Islanders on Wednesday night at 7.