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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – In the dying seconds of a losing effort on Saturday night, Auston Matthews was suddenly the focus of Rasmus Ristolainen’s fist.

As the Maple Leafs rookie tried to get his bearings in the fray, fellow rookie Mitch Marner jumped in to wrestle the Buffalo Sabres defenceman off Matthews, and eventually to the ice. It was a fitting end to the game for Toronto, who spent most of the night trying to claw their way back from a 3-0 first period deficit. Doomed again by a slow start, Toronto fell to Buffalo, 3-1.

“I didn’t know it was him who was jumping in there, I would have much rather have had myself in there instead of him,” Matthews said of Marner’s assist in the scrap. “Obviously Mitch is an unbelievable teammate and one of my really good friends on the team. When he jumps in there like that, you’re very appreciative of it.”

Marner was Toronto’s only goal scorer and overall best player against Buffalo, doing everything he could to bring his team back from the brink. His power-play goal in the second period, which fortuitously banked off Sabres netminder Robin Lehner while Marner was looking to make a pass, was a clear momentum-shifter for the Maple Leafs. In the third frame, dominated by Toronto, he played hard down low and was feeding his teammates around the net, to no avail. By the time the Maple Leafs found their legs the hole was too deep, and Lehner stymied them at every turn in a 43-save performance.

“I think we played a strong last 40 minutes or so. But that’s not good enough in this league – we have to come out and play a full 60,” said Morgan Rielly. “We started playing more down low [in the second half]. At the start we were trying to create too much off the rush and be a bit fancy. Once we realized it wasn’t working, we started chipping pucks in and going to get them. But it was too little, too late.”

In an excruciatingly tight Eastern Conference playoff race, only seven points separate the second wild-card spot from the basement. Five Atlantic Division teams - Ottawa, Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay and Buffalo – won on Saturday, which pushed the Maple Leafs from the third seed in the division to that last wild card, with little breathing room to spare.

To stay on track for the postseason, Toronto can’t afford many nights like Saturday.

“Getting frustrated is a waste of time. Disappointed is what you should feel,” said Mike Babcock. “We had the opportunity to get prepared and be prepared, we knew it was an important game, and we weren’t ready to play any way you look at it. That’s on me and on the players.”

That appears to start with the right mindset. Rielly said the team must treat each game as a “must-win” and not put themselves in a position to play desperate hockey. That’s proving to be easier said than done.

“There’s not much [space] between any of the teams,” Babcock said. “Maybe our guys think there is, but there obviously isn’t. You have to come in and compete every day. And the game is fair – you get out what you put in. You don’t prepare, you don’t win.

“You can cheat the system once in a blue moon, but it’s not good enough.”

Takeaways

Bad habits die hard: The Maple Leafs have had a recurring issue with slow starts this season and Saturday’s was particularly costly. They were listless out of the gate with zero jump, letting the Sabres easily take advantage. Nothing was working for Toronto over the first 20 minutes – the penalty kill gave up a goal (just their second in four games), their lone power play was anemic and Buffalo dominated puck possession at even strength. It was the fifth game this season Toronto has trailed by three goals after the first period, and they’re 0-5 in those contests. The Maple Leafs are now 1-12-2 when trailing after one frame, with a 0.63 win percentage, worst in the NHL.

Searching for a spark: Playing in his 500th NHL game, James van Riemsdyk did perhaps the most unexpected thing of all – he got in a fight. Early in the first period, with Toronto trailing 2-0, the winger dropped the gloves with Ristolainen for a short bout as the frustration set in for the Maple Leafs. It was van Riemsdyk’s third career fight, first since Oct. 2014, and wasn’t a catalyst to turning the tide for Toronto. Evander Kane scored his second of the night minutes later, with Jack Eichel assisting. The sophomore assisted on all three of Buffalo’s goals, a first in the NHL career. The Sabres are a perfect 10-0 this season when Eichel has two or more points. In his first meeting of the season against Toronto on Jan. 17, Matthews got the better of Eichel in their head-to-head matchup, but he finished plus-2 with three points, while Matthews finished without a point and minus-one.

First-year history: Toronto’s rookies – most notably Matthews and Marner – have been shattering the organization’s rookie records all season, but on Saturday the group set a new one together. With Marner’s goal and a Nikita Zaitsev assist, the Maple Leafs’ first year players accounted for 208 points on the year (in only 54 games), passing the previous franchise record of 207 set in the 1982-83 season. Marner’s 47 points also leads all rookies around the league. Toronto has had as many as eight rookie skaters on the roster at once contributing to that total. First-year goalie Antoine Bibeau also played in two games, posting a 1-1 record.

Playing (with) the puck: The Maple Leafs’ attempt to engineer a second half turnaround on Saturday was clearly reflected in their dominant possession stats. Toronto had just three players who weren’t over 50 per cent Corsi-for. Marner’s line with van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak were all near or above 70 per cent, and the team was at close to 62 per cent overall. Lehner deserves major credit for holding the Maple Leafs at bay, playing a strong 60-minute game and closing the door in the third period when Toronto was the far most active club. After being pulled in his last start at Air Canada Centre, Lehner redeemed himself in a big way.

Next game: Toronto will finish its four-game home stand on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.