Top lines fail Leafs in 4-0 fall to Sabres

When last they met on September 25, Buffalo bested Toronto 6-4, in a game memorable for all of its special team. Adam Clendening and Ian Cole also scored. But it was the mistakes the team made – kicked off by a turnover that caused rookie sensation Jack Eichel’s short-handed goal – that led to Buffalo’s win.

Management now views the charter flight as an extension of the dressing room, as a place where players can be free of public attention, where they can unwind, receive treatment and speak freely amongst themselves. The Minnesota game will be Buffalo’s final test session for 3-on-3 overtime of the preseason, meaning the new format will be played regardless of whether or not the score is actually tied at the end of regulation.

Refusing to accept the learning curve, Babcock immediately pointed the finger at his veterans, specifically at the top-six forwards who suited up.

“We can confirm that we had a change in policy this season in that team charters will be for the team and that there will be no members of the media or our broadcast crew accompanying us on flights”, Maple Leafs media relations director Steve Keogh said in an email.

Wow. Just wow. What a far cry from the mess that was the past two seasons of the tank. “To be from Toronto and to play for the Leafs is a special feeling, one that Boyes has waited a long time to experience”.

Eichel just scored his second shorthanded goal of the preseason on a spectacularly gorgeous breakaway. The crowd noise could have easily exceeded 120 Dbs.

When it comes to the other Toronto sports teams, they all share in the same misery that Leafs fans do.

The Leafs operate on the principle that no matter how bad the team, how expensive tickets, how much arena beer costs, and how many billions of dollars they try to squeeze out of supporters, the Toronto fan base will never, ever turn on the team, even if the Leafs seem terminally incapable of winning. He’s going to go through it. He’s left from being captain of his team to ‘am I going to be in the lineup.’ Being around my kids has made me understand the process way more. In addition to a number of roster moves, Mike Babcock was hired as head coach last spring and Lou Lamoriello was named general manager over the summer. You chose Toronto over Eichel and Buffalo. Every time I watch him live, he shows me a few other awesome dimension to his all-world skill set.

It was Eichel’s second goal of the preseason, and his second shorthanded goal.