from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

You can’t spell embarrassing without ‘Sabres.’

Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, answering on Wednesday morning after he was asked about guarding against playing down to lesser opponents, mentioned that in an 82-game schedule, “you’re going to have dips in your play.”

His players proved him right hours later.

Despite being 34 points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres in the standings when the game started — and despite the fact the Sabres were riding a six-game losing streak — the Leafs were throttled by the visitors, losing 5-1 at Scotiabank Arena.

“It was terrible from start to finish,” Keefe said. “Our team has been playing well, we have every reason to believe the team was ready to play.

“In terms of how we played with the puck, we were really careless. Offensively, we were abysmal. All four lines. There was no real urgency, no real competitiveness.

“We didn’t grab a hold of anything. We just didn’t have it.”

continued

Game highlights are below.