The ‘glass is half full’ point of view for the Buffalo Sabres towards the weekend back-to-back with the arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs is that they earned three of a possible four points and kept their momentum going in a positive direction. The ‘glass is half empty’ perspective is that the Sabres held a 3-2 lead deep into the third period before surrendering the tying goal to the Leafs Dakota Joshua, and after getting the lion’s share of the scoring chances in overtime, lose 4-3 on John Tavares breakaway goal.
“I thought we came in and we played hard, and we played our game plan for the most part. Didn't give them too many opportunities. We did sit back on our heels," Sabres winger Alex Tuch said after the game. "I thought we were able to quickly get back to our game and and try to press on."
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An early turning point in the game for Toronto was former Sabre Jake McCabe’s hit on Bowen Byram. The hit was deemed to be clean and not contact to the head, but in the moment, Tuch saw his teammate down on the ice and responded. McCabe was expecting a response, and after turning the Sabres forward around, knocked him down with a right hand. Toronto scored late in the first and early in the second before Byram tied the game late in the middle frame. After the game, the point emphasized by everyone in the Buffalo locker room was an “all for one, one for all” mentality.
"I think what we've done as a team, anytime there's been a situation, there's been five guys in, and somebody's immediately responded," Ruff said. "I said this the other night, we've come together as a group, and I think this group is going to hang together."
The Sabres have three games this week, at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, in Boston for the second time this month on Thursday, and at home on Saturday night against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
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