Sharpen Up: March 16, 2018

Buffalo lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night 5-2. They fell into an early 2-0 hole they couldn't climb out of. Sam Reinhart and Jason Pominville were your goal scorers, with each of them tallying on the power play.
They'll be back at practice today at HarborCenter as they prep for an afternoon matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow at KeyBank Center. We'll have full coverage for you.
Here's what you need to know.

About last night

From the Lexus Postgame Report…
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.

"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."
Sam Reinhart's goal gives him 10 points (3+7) in his last 10 games against the Maple Leafs, extending his point streak against Toronto to five games (3+4).
With his goal, Pominville now has five points (2+3) in his last five home games and three points (2+1) in two meetings with Toronto this season.

Tomorrow's festivities

The team will be selling St. Patrick's Day themed pucks prior to tomorrow's game against the Blackhawks, with all proceeds going directly to the Buffalo Sabres Foundation.
The special autographed pucks will be sold for $20 in the 100 Level concourse prior to the 1 p.m. game. Sabres wives and girlfriends will be on hand to assist with the sale.
Also on Saturday, the Sabres will wear green St. Patrick's Day themed jerseys for warmups against Chicago. The jerseys will be auctioned off immediately following the game 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 with the auctions running until 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 25.
And…