We’ve seen this act before. It’s a tired one already in Western New York. It’s one thing to lose as often as the Sabres have. But quite another for the team to disgrace itself. On what was billed Rivalry Night on NBC Sports Network, Buffalo turned a 5-2 home loss to bitter nemesis Boston into a much uglier scene.

For a young rebuilding club that’s won just once in 11 games including last night, the story should be about kids such as Nikita Zadorov. The 18-year old Russian ’13 Sabre first round pick scored his first career NHL goal cutting the deficit to 3-2 late in the second period. That was a good moment for a kid who’s part of the team’s future.

After Bruin defenseman Torey Krug scored to restore a two-goal lead 4:17 into the third, Buffalo bench boss Ron Rolston thought it was a good idea to send out John Scott. The 31-year old veteran enforcer is on his fourth roster in seven years. He spent the first two with the Wild before moving to Chicago for two, then the Rangers and has spent the last two in Buffalo. Listed at 6-8, 270, Scott’s a behemoth who can intimidate opponents with his fists. In a meaningless exhibition against the Leafs, Rolston sent him out to chase around Phil Kessel following a fight in which Jamie Devane broke Corey Tropp’s jaw. The end result was Scott emulating Tom while Kessel was Jerry. It morphed into a circus with players pairing off while Kessel kept hacking away at Scott.

It was like one of those scenes from Slap Shot. Except it’s not the 1970’s or 80’s anymore. Hockey doesn’t want such ugliness in the game. Apparently, Rolston forgot what his job description was. He was more concerned with having Scott out for a shift following Krug’s goal that put his team down 4-2. What he got was a disgraceful display from a player who has no place in the game. After Loui Eriksson released the puck, Scott came flying in with the kind of dirty hit that the NHL has zero tolerance for. Judge for yourself.

As we see on the replay, Scott delivers a late hit from the blindside charging into a defenseless Eriksson. For his actions, he received a charging match penalty. The response was quick from Boston with defenseman Adam McQuaid dropping the gloves. Of course, he was assessed an instigator because why would he want to defend a fallen teammate.

”He’s out there for two reasons and that’s either to fight or hurt,” a livid Claude Julien of Scott. ”So he did his job tonight.”

What exactly is his job? To deliberately injure players. Why he was even out there made no sense. The Sabres needed a response. They trailed by two in a game that wasn’t over. Instead, Krug converted his second during the five-minute major putting it away. You have to wonder what is going on. Patrick Kaleta also earns a paycheck from the Sabres. He still hasn’t learned his lesson serving the sixth game of a 10-game suspension for another mindless incident for delivering an illegal check to the head. The victim was Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson, who fortunately wasn’t hurt. But Kaleta’s record which included three suspensions made it an easy call for League VP Brendan Shanahan.

One has to ask where the level of respect is. The league has been quite busy making examples out of many culprits. When is enough ENOUGH? It’s reaching a breaking point. How many second and third chances can you give these guys before they kill someone? Because it’s headed that route. Matt Cooke has been used as an example of someone who repaired his image. You’d like to see more players adhere to the rules and take responsibility. The question with Scott is why is he even playing. He’s a goon. Kaleta on the other hand can take a regular shift and inject energy. However, time is running out.

The Sabres should be focused more on playing the game of hockey the right way. That way the younger players learn. I understand the need for them to get tougher. Ryan Miller was run over by Milan Lucic and no Sabre defended him. Team toughness is important as long as it doesn’t go overboard. There was no point to Scott’s madness. He deserves a huge ban. We’re not talking 10 games. Either 20 or 40. The time has come for Shanahan to make an example out of someone. Do the right thing.