Sabres unable to overcome slow start in loss to Leafs

Nathan Beaulieu's hatred for the Toronto Maple Leafs stems back further than the two games he's played against them as a Buffalo Sabre this season. It even dates back further than his six seasons playing for Toronto's chief rival, the Montreal Canadiens.
Beaulieu's aversion for the Maple Leafs, he said, goes all the way back to his upbringing in Strathroy, Ont. But it wasn't some long-burning hatred that fueled his fight with Toronto's Matt Martin in the first period on Thursday night, when the Sabres trailed 2-0 and were playing like a team that had been off for five days.

By challenging Martin, Beaulieu was simply trying to give his team a spark.
"Sometimes it's just something you need to do," the defenseman said. "A lot of respect over there to give me that opportunity. He's a tough customer. Just trying to wake the boys up, get them going. Unfortunately, it didn't go the distance. But sometimes you just got to set the tone. "
Beaulieu was able to get the spark he wanted - Sam Reinhart opened the scoring for the Sabres less than two minutes later and they went on to outshoot the Maple Leafs 29-21 in the second and third periods - but the damage was already done. The Sabres were unable to complete the comeback in a 5-2 loss.

It was the second of four meetings in the span of one month between the two rivals, with the Sabres having won the first matchup at KeyBank Center on March 5. Phil Housley pointed out afterward how the two games mirrored one another, but with opposite results.
In the first meeting, the Sabres received early goals from Sam Reinhart and Jason Pominville and were able to stave off the Maple Leafs' comeback attempt in a 5-3 win.
"It was a tale of two games," Housley said. "Last game we played them here, same thing happened, we got that two-goal lead. It was just a reversal tonight."
The Maple Leafs built their early lead on a pair of goals from James van Riemsdyk, who was less than 24 hours removed from scoring a hat trick in the team's shootout win over Dallas on Wednesday. Van Riemsdyk opened the scoring 3:39 into the contest with a bad-angle shot that beat Robin Lehner from behind the goal line.
As van Riemsdyk took his shot, Lehner got tied up with teammate Jacob Josefson and lost his stick.
"It's questionable goalie interference, I think," Lehner said. "I know it's not their guy, but their guy pushes him in. I have the post, I'm sitting there waiting, he rotates me out of position. Stuff like that happens."
Van Riemsdyk scored again three minutes later, this time with a well-placed shot from the edge of the left faceoff circle. With the Sabres shorthanded due to a delayed penalty, van Riemsdyk found space and had time to elevate a shot into the top corner of the net, above Lehner's glove.
"You could tell that we'd been off for a few days," alternate captain Jason Pominville said. "We didn't get the start, got behind the eight ball and were kind of chasing it after, never found a way to get back into it. Bottom line, we've got to have a better start and we've got to find a way to score 5-on-5, which we didn't do tonight."
Both of Buffalo's goals - from Reinhart and Pominville - came on the power play. After Reinhart brought the Sabres within one, the Maple Leafs extended their lead with goals from Connor Carrick and Tyler Bozak. Pominville's goal, scored with 59 seconds remaining in the second period, made it 4-2.
The Sabres continued their push in the third period, but Patrick Marleau capped the scoring for Toronto with 43.6 seconds remaining. Curtis McElhinney made 38 saves for the Maple Leafs.
"We did create looks, but we weren't able to score," Pominville said. "Usually if you don't score 5-on-5 you're probably not going to win a game."
The Sabres next meet the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on March 26, capping a stretch of seven games in 12 days.
"We got these guys a couple more times, so we'll be ready," Beaulieu said.

Reinhart stays hot

Reinhart's power-play goal was his 26th point in his last 26 games, and it came in typical fashion for the forward. He was stationed near the crease when he poked a loose puck across the Toronto net toward Scott Wilson, who fed him a return pass he was able to bury behind McElhinney.

Reinhart now ranks third on the team with 39 points (18+21) this season.

Familiar foes

Pominville has been a part of more Sabres-Leafs matchups than any other current Sabre, and he's had consistent success against Buffalo's rival from across the border. His goal gives him 51 points (20+31) in 52 meetings against Toronto as a Sabre, including three points in two meetings this season.

Rodrigues returns

Evan Rodrigues had scored nine points in 11 games prior to sustaining an upper-body injury in Tampa on Feb. 28, and he picked up where he left off following a five-game absence. Rodrigues took four shots and tallied the secondary assist on both of Buffalo's goals.
Rodrigues has a career-high 18 points (6+12) in 36 games this season.

Up next

The Sabres continue their homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon. Fans in attendance will receive St. Patrick's Day themed koozies, and the players will wear commemorative green jerseys on the ice during warmups. The jerseys will be auctioned off here](http://auction.nhl.com/iSynApp/allAuction.action?sid=1100803&rc=25&sort=timeleft_asc&selectedCatId=11904&&pgcust1=sabres&pgcust2=team&pgcust3=&pgmode1=profilepage&pgmode2=&qMode=open&qt[0].type=openbrac&qt[1].type=fieldmatch&qt[1].name=panname_profileName_s&qt[1].value1=team&qt[2].type=operand&qt[3].type=fieldmatch&qt[3].name=panname_teamName_s&qt[3].value1=sabres&qt[4 immediately following the game.
Kids Day ticket packages are available here.
Coverage on MSG-B begins at 12:30 p.m., or you can listen live on WGR 550. Puck drop is scheduled for 1.