Vorstellung » 2-0 in the 65th minute of the playoff. Tuyet Dong narrowed

TORONTO – Joffrey Lupul wouldve loved to have gone out this past Sunday, grabbed a beer and watched the football game, but given the Maple Leafs dismal performance one night earlier, he knew a seat on the couch was probably more appropriate. When youre not performing up to where you think youre capable of as a team, its not a good feeling, Lupul said. He and his teammates were desperate to stem those ill feelings with an effort they could be proud of and, though it was against the lowly Buffalo Sabres, they got it Tuesday night. Toronto owned its QEW rival in a 4-0 rout, holding the Sabres to just 10 shots – matching a team record – while emerging victorious for just the second time in six tries at home this fall. Still mending fresh wounds from a dispiriting loss to the Bruins over the weekend, one that included a players-only meeting in the frustrated aftermath, the Leafs needed such a performance, if only to relieve some of that building pressure. And though it was hardly any kind of a measuring stick given the opponent, it did help to ease those pressures to some extent. Well, now we know the standard we need to hold ourselves to game in, game out, said James van Riemsdyk, who scored his fourth goal of the year in the victory. Outshooting the Sabres 37-10 overall, the Leafs controlled play almost from the word go, but still found themselves searching for that first goal midway through the game. Michal Neuvirth had made 28 saves to that point in the middle frame, turning every one of Torontos many attempts aside. Those are nervous times because you know that sometimes fate in sports comes and bites you the wrong way and that was what we were worried about, said head coach Randy Carlyle, noticeably relieved after the win. A source of emptiness in recent games, it was the Leaf power play that came through with the goal that broke the nervous tie. Jumping in front of the Sabres defence on a breakaway, Tyler Bozak notched his fourth goal of October – and ninth point – while ending a string of 23 straight empty power plays for Toronto. It was a game where we needed to play a lot better and we felt confident after the first period of how we were playing and knew we just needed to keep playing like that and eventually one was going to go in for us, Bozak said. The Leafs didnt stop there, adding goals from van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel and Jake Gardiner in the third. Jonathan Bernier, who pitched the easy 10-save shutout, said it was the best game hed seen the team play since landing in Toronto from L.A. All that being said, Tuesday was really just the warm-up response for the Leafs given the opponent – who was also playing their first game back in the Eastern time zone following a road swing through California. A back-to-back this weekend, starting in Columbus and ending at home Saturday with the Blackhawks, will offer more realistic signs as to whether the Leafs have turned any sort of corner. In full-on rebuild mode, Buffalo entered the night with 10 goals all season, had yet to score even once on the power play and was giving up more than 37 shots per game. Nonetheless, they had topped the Sharks in San Jose just a few days earlier. We know that were going to have to play, as we go forward, to a higher level than we did tonight, said Carlyle. Tonight, everything fell our way and well take it because we were in drastic need of a performance at home. Five Points 1. Line Shuffle After Saturdays loss to Boston, Carlyle scrubbed all of his line combos, most notably teaming Kessel with Lupul and Nazem Kadri and David Clarkson with van Riemsdyk and Bozak. Youre doing it because you believe that whats going on cant stay the same, Carlyle said before the game. The changes had the desired effect – though Tuesday, again, didnt provide much for real evaluation. Kessel banked his fifth marker off Neuvirth and into the goal, van Riemsdyk following that up exactly a minute later with his fourth this season on a nifty cross-ice feed from Morgan Rielly. I thought they played well as a line, said Bozak, and I thought our line sustained a lot of zone time too and played pretty well. The change reunites Kessel and Lupul, who had their best NHL seasons respectively when paired together in 2011-12. Kessel posted a career-best of 82 points that year while Lupul bested the 60-point plateau for the first and only time in his career. Lupul nearly matched the Sabres with nine shots on goal on this night, ringing one off the bar along the way. My role changes a little bit on the line, Lupul said of playing with Kessel. Ive got to be the first guy in on the forecheck and get to the front of the net so I know that and thats what Ill have to do to help the line. 2. Home Frustrations The parade of boos have been justifiably merciless through the Leafs early struggles at home – three one-sided uninspired losses. Its frustration thats mounted over years and years of mediocrity, frustration thats easily understood from a players perspective. Its a new year but theyre kind of seeing, in their minds, the same old thing because the games that weve played at home weve played quite poorly – other than the Colorado game – so I understand the frustration, Lupul said prior to the shutout against Buffalo. Weve got to play a lot better and people will be alright. Certainly we want to make this a fun atmosphere; people pay a lot of money to come to these games and its nearly impossible to get tickets so I want people to come here and have a good time, not leave in a foul mood after a game. Weve got to play better and its not just one night, he continued, We shouldnt be nervous to play at home, we should be excited. It was Carlyle who pointed to nerves amid the teams troubled start at the ACC. Like last season, hes advocating composure when hardship hits. What you try to do is you try to keep things as loose as you possibly can in certain situations, he said. Theres a time to teach and [a time to] just say whoa, relax, breathe here gentlemen and we havent done enough breathing as a group in this building. 3. Puck Smarts Many Leafs talked about the improved team game following the victory over Buffalo. Among them was van Riemsdyk, who explained why it was a priority. In my opinion, I think in the first eight games of the year, we were very inconsistent as far as just playing smart, he said. Theres a time and a place to try a play and we werent trying them in the right areas of the ice. When you turn pucks over at your blue line, at their blue line, and make bad decisions with the puck, usually youre going to be chasing the game and youre going to be getting out-shot by a ton. So when youre smarter with the puck, it definitely creates more time in their end. Believe me, its not the first time weve stressed it, Carlyle said of puck management. Weve stressed that right from the beginning of the year, but it just seemed that in some of the situations that weve been in that we havent committed ourselves to what the team needs you to do to have success. 4. Goaltending Home ice had not been kind to Jonathan Bernier coming into the Tuesday affair with Buffalo. Bernier, who picked up just his second shutout as a Leaf, had allowed 13 goals in his first three home starts, sporting an unseemly .867 percentage. He barely saw any action at all from the Sabres, eventually emerging with his first home win this season. Youre just trying to stay focused and make the save that you should make, said Bernier. I thought we played very solid. We kept everything to the outside. Probably the best game since Ive been here. A particular source of strength last season, Toronto goaltending has been just okay through the opening month. Bernier and James Reimer have combined for a .916 save percentage at even-strength so far – the sample size is still small – down from a sizzling .929 mark a year ago. 5. Waiting for an Opportunity Carter Ashton continues to show up every day for practice, for meetings, for strength training in the gym. He also continues to wait for his first opportunity to play. Ashton has been a healthy scratch in all nine games this season. Definitely ready, he said. Every day at the rink, youve got to make sure youre ready and prepare yourself and be good in practices. Definitely excited and ready for any opportunity. Ashton, still just 23, played sparingly in 32 games with the Leafs last season – Carlyle even spoke to his regret about those limited minutes at his season-ending press conference last April. And yet, Ashton is now not even playing at all. Carters been a great soldier, Carlyle said. Hes come to work, he hasnt complained, hes done everything weve asked of him – hes even played defence in practice for us in penalty killing situations – so thats not easy for a young player. Ashton, who scored 16 times in the AHL last year, is still searching for his first NHL goal. He has just three assists in 47 career games. Obviously I want to be able to produce to a certain extent, Ashton said. [But] I think its more about doing the little things right and being a complete player; being responsible defensively and being a trustworthy player and then being able to create energy in the offensive zone. Stats Pack 73-36 – Possession advantage for the Leafs Tuesday. 9 – Shots for Joffrey Lupul, one off the Sabres total as a team. 4-0-0 – Leafs record this season when Phil Kessel records a point. .916 – Even-strength save percentage for Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer this season. 0-23 – Torontos drought on the power play before Tyler Bozak scored in the second period Tuesday night. 10 – Points this season for Bozak, tied with Kessel for the team lead. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-6 Season: 16.2 per cent PK: 2-2 Season: 85.3 pre cent Quote of the Night On the replay when I saw it between periods, I said holy crow. - Randy Carlyle, reacting to Dion Phaneuf, who appeared to suffer a serious right knee injury in the second period only to return for the third. According to Carlyle, Phaneuf felt a pop in his hip. Up Next The Leafs visit the Blue Jackets in their final game of October. 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