IST PERIOD NOTES
Tim Kennedy gets the first good scoring chance of the game, in the Leafs zone. Victor Stalberg scores on a high glove shot Ryan Miller may not have seen at 3;06, to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Miller makes great save on Lee Stempniak. Through the first 9 minutes, Toronto has been carrying the play and been much more dominant territorially. The Sabres Steve Montador gets penalized for hooking at 9;43, and Toronto didn’t get any good scoring chances during the power play. The Leafs get penalized, as Tomas Kaberle gets called for slashing at 12;44. Buffalo maintains good puck control and the Sabres get one excellent chance at the front of the net before the penalty expires. Garnet Exelby is penalized for delay of game at 15;55. The Sabres control the puck and the zone, but are on the perimeter for most of the power play.Matt Stajan and Phil Kessel buzz the Leafs net. Miller makes a great save on a Niklas Hagman shot. The period ends with Toronto having been dominant through most of it.Toronto outshot Buffalo 10-4.
2ND PERIOD NOTES
Derek Roy scores for Buffalo beating Vesa Toskala on a shot from 20 feet out with some traffic in front of the net at 1;32, to tie the game at 1. Buffalo has been hustling in this period through the first 5 minutes of the period. Toskala gloves a shot from Toni Lydman and he seems to drop the puck into his own net, at 7;02, to make the score 2-1 for the Sabres. Mike Grier scores for Buffalo on a passing play with Tim Kennedy at 9;14, to make it 3-1 for Buffalo. The Sabres Matt Ellis scores on a play started by Tyler Myers at 12;48. Ron Wilson pulls Vesa Toskala and puts Jonas Gustavsson in net after the goal with the Sabres leading 4-1. Ryan Miller makes a good save in front of the Buffalo net. around the 15;00 minute mark. Adam Mair forces Gustavsson to make a good save.
3RD PERIOD NOTES
Buffalo had a 3 on 1 break but failed to take advantage of it, although they got a shot on net, in the first two minutes. Ryan Miller stops Jamal Mayers on a breakaway.The Sabres Jochen Hecht puts the pressure on Toronto about 7 minutes into the period. Gustavsson makes a stop on Jason Pominville in front of the net. Tomas Vanek scores after circling behind the Leafs net and coming in front and stuffing the puck on the short side to make it 5-1 for the Sabres at 11;09. Lee Stempniak scores a late goal for the Leafs at 19;40, and they lose 5-2 to the Sabres.
GAME SUMMARY
Toronto had a solid first period, while the Sabres came out uninspired. Perhaps Lindy Ruff said something in the intermission, because Buffalo looked like a much different team in the second period, playing with way more intensity and skating hard both ways. The Leafs seemed to pack it in after the Toni Lydman goal,and that goofy play by Vesa Toskala, seemed to unnerve him as well. Even though he was pulled after the fourth goal by the Sabres Matt Ellis, Toskala allowing four goals on six shots, and especially the Lydman goal, will make it difficult for his team to play with confidence in front of him. As I wrote in my Leafs report card after the 19th game of this season, some goalkeepers are better as backups, as opposed to starters, and not every goalie can handle the pressure of being in the spotlight of a major market city. It’s the same in every sport. Playing baseball for the New York Yankees, isn’t a great idea for every major leaguer. Playing hockey for the Maple Leafs is somewhat similar. That might be the case for Vesa Toskala.
The Sabres were once again successful in shutting down Phil Kessel, as they did in Toronto a few weeks ago. Lindy Ruff assigned rookie sensation Tyler Myers to follow Kessel, and the Texas native used his size and reach to restrict the shooting and passing lanes of the Leafs sniper. This strategy worked very well for the Bruins in two games, where Zdeno Chara similarly shut Kessel down. It is puzzling why other teams haven’t done the same, assuming their pro scouts are seeing these games live or recorded. You would think the Bruins will try to do the same Saturday evening against the Maple Leafs.