Sorry Sabres - You were quite listless and anemic in the 2nd and 3rd period last Monday against the Ducks

Went to the arena - 1st period they were gangbusters. Fell asleep after the 1st period and dropped their shorts.

Sabres roll over listless Leafs

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 11:29 PM ET Comments41Recommend13

Anemic. Lethargic. Tired. Lifeless.

Pick any adjective you want — they could all be used to aptly describe the effort of the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night in Buffalo.

Twenty-four hours after losing a heartbreaker in overtime to Florida on home ice, the listless Leafs stumbled to a humbling 5-0 loss to the Sabres, who were spurred by Thomas Vanek's first hat trick of the season.

Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford each added a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who were playing their first game on home ice in 18 days.

Right from the opening faceoff, it was clear the Leafs would come out second-best. Toronto appeared emotionally and physically exhausted, and looked to be just going through the motions as they gave up a dozen odd-man rushes.

But for the efforts of Leafs goalie Justin Pogge, who was summoned from the club's American Hockey League affiliate and was making his third career NHL start, the loss could have been even more embarrassing.

Pogge looked solid in making 27 saves, but he was let down constantly by a sloppy defence that hung him out to dry.

"Thank God for Justin Pogge — he had an outstanding game," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. "He made a number of saves or it could have been really ugly."

The Leafs, who managed just 16 shots on net, have surrendered four or more goals in 14 of their past 19 games, going 5-11-3 in that span.

Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller barely broke a sweat to earn his second consecutive shutout and fifth of the season.

"They played back-to-back and had a tough loss (on Tuesday)," said Miller. "When you jump on them like that, it just makes it really tough. We've been in those situations before."

"I thought Toronto was flat," added Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

Even though Toronto was playing for a second straight night, Wilson wasn't ready to excuse his team.

"We had a day off on Sunday," he said. "Playing back-to-back at this point in the season, we should be able to handle that."

Connolly opened the scoring at 2:23 of the first period, tipping in a Craig Rivet pass by Pogge.

Stafford made it 2-0 for Buffalo 10 minutes later when he made a great move to blow by Leafs defenceman Mike Van Ryn and fire a quick wrist shot over Pogge's shoulder.

Thomas Vanek bagged his 30th goal of the season at 2:37 of the second period, beating Pogge with a backhander from in close.

Buffalo took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the second intermission, but it could have been far worse for Toronto if not for the efforts of Pogge — the Sabres outshot the Leafs 24-9 through the first two periods.

Vanek netted his second goal of the game early in the third. Stafford scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone following a Toronto turnover and fed a pass to Vanek who streaked into the Leafs' zone and wired a wicked slapshot in off the post.

Vanek completed his hat trick at 9:13 while the Sabres enjoyed a five-on-three advantage, completing a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with a tip-in on Pogge's doorstep.

The hat trick was the fifth of Vanek's career and moved him into a tie with Philadelphia's Jeff Carter for second in league scoring with 32 goals.

The Leafs continue their four-game road trip Saturday in Montreal (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 6:30 p.m. ET).With files from Canadian Press