(In place of a traditional “Overreactions” post, which would be extremely tardy, this is 3MI Roadtrip Recap. A mix of what the postgame blogs usually look like and a look into the trip. Hope you like it. If you don’t, well, go lay down on train tracks.)
Preamble
It’s about as close to being at the center of the hockey universe as you can get. Saturday night in Toronto. Hockey Night in Canada. Nationwide up north and on NHL Network in the United States.
The aura of the Air Canada Centre is something that has to be experienced. And it’s something that I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience. Multiple times. Many, many times.
So when you look at the calendar and see Sabres at Leafs on a Saturday night at the end of March, two thoughts come to mind:
- Going to games in Toronto is awesome.
- The Leafs will be eliminated from playoff contention by then.
Which brought us to Saturday, which was as big as big games could get after losing Friday night to Pittsburgh.
So me and my buddy headed up north for the day. A nice afternoon of watching hockey at Real Sports Bar & Grill across the street from the ACC and some Saturday night hockey. Got standing room only tickets off StubHub at box office price. Can’t beat it.
Sabres @ Maple Leafs
Viewed at: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
If you want to write the book called “How to fuck up your playoff chances in a game you should win,” I’ve got a suggestion for what you can include.
Making the short trip north for a showdown with a free-falling Toronto Maple Leafs, who came into Saturday riding an 11-game winless streak at home, who happened to be starting their fourth-string goalie because their third-string goalie got shelled the game before, Buffalo proceeded to back away from any decent shot at a playoff spot.
Unable to beat Ben Scrivens or shut down a struggling offense, the Buffalo Sabres dropped a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the golf-course-bound Leafs in Toronto.
Ryan Miller was unable to rebound from a rough outing the night before, giving up four goals for the second straight night. He made 25 saves in the loss.
“We scored some goals tonight, so I didn’t need to be perfect,” Miller said. “But I needed to make another save or two.”
Tyler Ennis, Ville Leino, and Drew Stafford scored for Buffalo, who never led at any point. Continue reading →