Ron Wilson sounded sure of himself as he assessed his NHL team's play, calmly answering question after question yesterday on the hows and whys of just how poorly it has played this season.
A day after a blowup at the 28th-place Toronto Maple Leafs during a practice, the head coach recanted on a Toronto radio station, admitting prior to last night's game against the Buffalo Sabres that he should have kept his critiques away from the prying eyes of local media.
"I just basically lost it," Wilson said.
The coach went on to address how he could right many of his team's wrongs, beginning on the penalty kill - which has been dead last in the league since Wilson landed in Toronto in the summer of 2008, with strong credentials in the department.
"A very focused approach to our penalty kill, that's what we need," Wilson said, adding there would be a meeting prior to the game to talk about playing a man short. "Getting our guys committed to blocking shots is huge.
"That's just something you have to do."
A few hours later, it was crystal clear all of it - the tirade, the talk - was for naught.
The Maple Leafs were outclassed again by the Sabres in a 3-2 win that bore a striking similarity to many other Toronto losses this season. For the 32nd time in 45 games, the Leafs failed to score first. For the 23rd time, they were down 2-0 early.
Then, came another too little, too late comeback that fell a goal short despite a wild third period in which Toronto fired 22 shots on Sabres netminder Ryan Miller.
In the end, it came down to the man advantage. The Leafs power play went 0-for-4 and their penalty kill was 0-for-3, allowing Buffalo to rack up three goals with the man advantage in little more than 10 minutes in the early going.
(There's very little, in other words, that's special about the Leafs' special teams these days.)
The Sabres gave Toronto ample chances to get on the board early, too, taking three consecutive penalties in the first 12 minutes and spending much of that time hemmed in their own zone. But, as has been the case this season since Phil Kessel joined the team, the power play came up limp - showcasing why, perhaps, Kessel was never a first-unit contributor in his time with the Boston Bruins and scored almost all of his 36 goals last season at even strength.
But with time ticking down in the opening period, Leafs centre Rickard Wallin was tagged with a double-minor for highsticking - a penalty fellow Swede Viktor Stalberg admitted to committing - and Buffalo's shooters went to work.
Doing most of the heavy lifting was Sabres standout rookie defenceman Tyler Myers, who made three nice plays to score twice and setup fellow freshman Tim Kennedy's goal. In what's quickly becoming a Calder Memorial Trophy-worthy season for the 6-foot-8 blueliner, Myers has 26 points in 43 games.
Not bad for someone who doesn't turn 20 until Feb. 1 - and was picked seven spots after Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn in the 2008 draft.
The win was the Sabres' 10th in a row over their regional rivals and added more shine to Miller's already gaudy career totals - including a 22-7-0 record - against the Leafs.
Leafs centre Matt Stajan broke his team's goose egg early in the third period, and John Mitchell added another goal late, both small victories in a game when there were few to be had.
Toronto fell to 1-8 in its past nine road games, contests in which they've been outscored an incredible 38-17.
And the coach who has always had all the answers?
"It takes a lot to play the way we have to in order to be successful, that's the frustrating part," Wilson had offered before the night's beating.
"I always think as a coach I can make a difference."
Leafs Nation waits.
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GAME SHEET
Notes Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said yesterday that defenceman Mike Komisarek, out the past three games with an apparent shoulder injury, is likely to miss next week's games as well. "We don't think it's that serious but this is a matter of strengthening himself up." ... Expect Jonas Gustavsson to be in goal for the Leafs tonight against the Penguins after Vesa Toskala (6-9-2) took the loss last night.
Next Tonight, Pittsburgh Penguins at ACC, 7 p.m. (EST)
TV CBC
James Mirtle