Here comes another division rival. The Buffalo Sabres made the short drive up the QEW to play the first of eight contests against our Toronto Maple Leafs.

Games against Buffalo almost always make Toronto fans groan. Everyone remembers the blowouts and big time comebacks at the hands of the Sabres. Hopefully this year will tell a different story.

The first two periods gave Leaf fans some hope. Some shiny, glittering hope! Gamache scores in the first, and big Nik scores in the second. The Sabres do not. All is good, but this is going into the third… and we all know what the Leafs are like in the third period.

And bam! It happens! Same old Leafs, same old story. Adam Mair scores at 8:12, and then 37 seconds later, Jason Pominville pots the tying goal. Well… we all know where this is going.

Or so we thought. A shootout started. The Leafs scored, then Buffalo, followed by the Leafs and Buffalo again. 6 goals, 3 apiece, in 8 minutes and 15 seconds. A flurry of goals and it’s tied 4-4 with the clock counting down.

Right at the end of the period, literally with 2 seconds on the clock, McCabe attempts to clear the puck from the net, and instead, shoots it right at Raycroft in the net. Raycroft makes the save on his own team and throws his stick in the air in frustration.

Overtime.

Both teams come out firing, Buffalo still with the advantage though, in both shots and speed. Pavel Kubina takes a tripping penalty at 3:15, and it looks like we are going down. The Leafs actually prevail on the 5 on 3 OT power play, and time runs down to the final seconds.

Remember how McCabe shot the puck at his own net at the end of the third? Well… he didn’t score that time, so he decided to try again. With 3.7 seconds left in overtime, McCabe goes to clear the puck, albeit quickly, out from the crease. This time he gets a nice shot past Rayroft, into the twine, to win the game for the Sabres.

Doesn’t he play for the Leafs? It has been a rough year for McCabe so far, both with his on-ice play and from the fans. We are getting tired of this high paid player not earning his money. I understand people make mistakes, and the fact he makes so much money is John Ferguson Jr.’s fault, not his, but COME ON!

The Leafs have a hard enough time winning as it is, and do not need their own players adding to their Goals Against.