Don Granato and the Buffalo Sabres are going through it right now. They enter their Thursday night matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs trying to move past their most embarrassing loss of the season. Buffalo allowed nine goals to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice in a game that was never close. In fact, they trailed 7-1 in the second period.

On Wednesday, the Sabres head coach spoke with the media. And he revealed a key difference between this season and last that he believes helps explain the team's drop in play. “If I compare … seeing a game from last season and a game from this season, it’s the pace,” he said, via Buffalo Hockey Beat.

“The pace is the difference. … We compete better when we play with pace. We’re more aggressive defensively when we play with pace and we attack better on offense,” Granato went on to explain on Wednesday.

Don Granato, Sabres have struggled beyond Blue Jackets embarrassment

For now, the Sabres hold a seven-point cushion over the last-place Ottawa Senators in the Atlantic Division. However, Ottawa recently made a major and long-awaited coaching change that could turn things around. Buffalo, on the other hand, has struggled all season with no real end in sight.

A broader look at their recent form reaffirms that story. The Sabres have lost eight of their last 11 games. Furthermore, the team has allowed five or more goals in five of those eight losses. Buffalo ranks in the bottom 1o in terms of goals for per game and goals against per game, as well.

The Sabres have had stretches where they looked like the team that shocked the league a year ago. However, unlike last season, most of the chances they get simply don't go in. They've lost games they've dominated, and the Sabres have also fallen behind from the moment the puck dropped on their games.

Granato believes upping the team's tempo can help fix their mistakes. And that was the main focus of Buffalo's preparation for this game against the Maple Leafs on Thursday. He hopes the contrast was evident to his players, and they step it up on the ice.

“So we looked at clips of us playing high-pace, high-tempo hockey as a comparison to situations where we didn’t,” he said, via Buffalo Hockey Beat. “So you have a vision of where you want to go and greater clarity on where you want to go.”