By Mike Harrington
TORONTO -- You saw some different nuances in the morning skate and pregame warmups, some drills run a lot less than they used to be and a couple others more emphasized.
As for the game? Meh. No offense. Another bad second period. Penalties. A terrible power play. A penalty killing unit that gave up two power-play goals -- to a Toronto team that was 2 for 35 at home all year.
Ron Rolston might never forget the day he became an NHL coach or his first walk out of the tunnel on to the bench but he may as well forget most of the Sabres' 3-1 loss to the Maple Leafs. It's their third straight, dropping them to 6-11-1 -- 14th in the East and 28th overall.
In the case of your favorite $65 million underachievers, a coach can only do so much.
"It's up to the players," said goaltender Ryan Miller. "We're moving forward. I think Ron is a good coach. He's got a nice style about him. I like the way he thinks the game. He laid out a few things for us but the NHL game for every team is not that different. You have to do certain things the right way or you are going to run yourself up."
Uh-huh. Click the files below to go around the locker room (and apologies for the Rolston audio as that whine in the the locker room seemed to be coming from the shower pipes).
Ron Rolston
Ryan Miller
Kevin Porter
Thomas Vanek
