Sabres powerless in loss to Leafs

The heading says it all, did the power go out on the Sabres season?  The Sabres see there playoff hopes grow dimmer with a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at HSBC Arena.   In addition to the Sabres loss the Flyers and Capitals both won meaning Buffalo falls further behind the Flyers while the Caps are now tied with Buffalo.  I have pointed to 92 points being needed to secure the eighth seed and that would mean that Buffalo will need 11 of a possible 14 points over the final seven games.  There are two games with the Boston Bruins left on the schedule but they could be irrelevant if the Caps over take the Sabres.

The Sabres had their chances to score in this game but outstanding goaltending by Vesa Toskala and pathetic power play did the Sabres in.  The Sabres were 1-for-8 on the power play including 0-for-3 with a two man advantage.  The Sabres had a power play for 11:01 but managed only one goal on the power play.  It's easy to say that they miss having Brian Campbell, Nathan Paetsch, Jaro Spacek and Tim Connolly on the power play but the strategy seemed off tonight as well.  It seemed that when the Leafs pressured the point men they were trying to get shots through instead of playing the side wall and when they dropped three into the box Buffalo would try to get the puck in deep instead of shooting through traffic.  

If there is any good news that can come from this embarrassing loss it is that they have three days off to figure out the power play.  If they are going to find a way to make the playoffs they need to get some offense with a man advantage.  The next game is Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators at the HSBC Arena.  The Sabres have three more home games and four on the road to finish out the season, will it be the final seven games of the season?