Maple Leafs' Babcock unhappy with veterans after shutout loss to Sabres
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock called out his veteran players after a 4-0 preseason loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
"I thought our kids were good," Babcock said, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. "I don't think we got anything out of our top two lines."
The Leafs allowed Sabres prospect Jack Eichel to score on a shorthanded breakaway in the first period, and Toronto was outshot 21-12 over the first two frames.
Babcock again blamed the team's core, adding it's not the young players' responsibility to lead the club.
"I don't think the people that you perceive as our good players were good enough, not even close," Babcock said. "They've got to lead their way that's their job.
"You just can't count on kids to do it. We've got to get our veterans playing the right way, that's the bottom line. We can talk about kids, that's a nice sideline story in exhibition, but we've got to get our players to play."
The Leafs wrap up their preseason schedule with a back-to-back home-and-home series against Babcock's former team, the Detroit Red Wings, on Friday and Saturday.
- With h/t to Kukla's Korner