Sabres generate chances but fall to Maple Leafs at home

The Buffalo Sabres generated 34 shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs but were unable to find the back of the net in a 3-0 loss inside KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Toronto goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped all 34 shots, including 16 stops in the third period, to record his third shutout of the season as the Sabres fell to seven points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Maple Leafs took the lead 4:58 into the game after William Nylander found John Tavares in the high slot for a wrist shot that beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen blocker side.

The Sabres went on to outshoot the Maple Leafs 9-5 the remainder of the period and were awarded with consecutive power-play opportunities. They generated several chances, including a point-blank opportunity for Owen Power in front of the net on the power play and a shot of the right post by JJ Peterka, but were unable to capitalize.  

“I think once they took the lead, they sat back a little bit,” forward Alex Tuch said. “We got a lot of opportunities, and we weren’t able to bury them. Samsonov played really well over there. Made some huge stops for them. We just got to bear down on those grade-A areas.”

Toronto extended its lead early in the second when Nicholas Robertson scored off a pass from Nicholas Holmberg at the 2:34 mark. Buffalo went on to earn two more power plays, but the Maple Leafs held a 2-0 lead after the second period as Samsonov came up with eight saves to keep the Sabres off the board.

Dylan Cozens felt the group could have capitalized on its power play chances had they put more pucks on net.

“I think sometimes we look for the perfect play instead of just getting it to the net and getting greasy goals and just crowding the net and shrinking the zone,” he said. “I think you look at a lot of the top power plays, they just throw a lot of stuff to the net, and they crash the net together and just attack off that.”

Cozens nearly put the Sabres within one midway through the third when he earned a shorthanded breakaway. Samsonov made the save to send the play in the other direction before Jordan Greenway slapped the puck down ice to Jeff Skinner, who exited the penalty box and skated in behind the Toronto defense. Skinner tried to stickhandle his way around Samsonov, but Samsonov made the stop before Cozens crashed the net for a point-blank opportunity in the slot. Samsonov robbed Cozens with a glove save with 10:08 remaining on the clock.

“Yeah, I mean it definitely gets frustrating after a while,” Cozens said. “You get tons of chances, and the goalie just stands on his head. Got to find a way to bury some of those, I’ve got to find a way to bury some of those, and our power play’s got to get a couple.”

With just under six minutes remaining, the Maple Leafs went on a 2-on-1 rush against Bowen Byram, who broke his stick in the process. Luukkonen sprawled to make a pad save on Auston Matthews, but Toronto kept the pressure on, with Matthews getting his stick on a rebound in front of the blue paint to put away his league-leading 60th goal of the season.

“I think obviously we gave up too many tonight,” Tuch said. “Couple breakdowns that they were able to capitalize on. Couple simple mistakes that we have to clean up. Obviously, a broken stick, that sucks. Honestly, I don’t think that gets even a shot on net if the stick’s not broken there, but it’s part of it. A little unlucky and you’re not going to win a game if you can’t score a goal.”

The Sabres ended the night 0-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Jordan Greenway led the team in power play time, logging 7:32 on the man advantage while posting 3:49 of shorthanded ice time.

Coach Don Granato said he wants to see his team continue to compete and fight with seven games remaining in the season.

“Obviously, you can be disappointed, you can be frustrated, but how are you going to respond? That’s what we’re going to look for.”

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Skinner played in his 999th career game against the Maple Leafs and is expected to suit up for his 1,000th game when the Sabres host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday inside KeyBank Center.

The Sabres will honor the forward with a special celebration. For more on the evening, click here.

2. Peterka led the Sabres with six shots in the game while skating on a line with Tuch and Tage Thompson.

The trio held an 11-7 advantage in shot attempts when they were on the ice together at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Up next

The homestand continues when the Sabres host the Capitals on Tuesday. 

Pregame coverage on MSG/MSG+ begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.

Radio coverage can be found on WGR 550.