The Sabres were on the road in Toronto Saturday night, in a game that saw them win 6-4 in a showdown with their Atlantic division rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
Buffalo started off quickly and never looked back, as the team recorded six goals on the night, which is tied for their season high with only their game against Ottawa.
However, the Sabres defense allowed four goals on the night, including a hat trick for Maple Leafs Auston Matthews.
Goaltender Devon Levi made his highly anticipated return, but didn’t look impressive, allowing four goals on 29 shots in the contest.
Despite the lackluster defense and goaltending, the Sabres were still able to get the win. This was in large part due to their special teams.
The Sabres scored a goal on both the penalty kill and power play in the win, and it helped lift them past their rivals in this one.
1st period
Buffalo started the game off aggressive, and this would lead to some good chances, but also a penalty early on in the contest.
Toronto would receive a lot of high-quality chances on the power play, recording five shot. However, goaltender Devon Levi was able to make the saves and keep the game scoreless.
The next few minutes of the game were rather uneventful, before Toronto’s Mitch Marner was sprung for a breakaway, in which he scored to extend his point streak to six games, and give Toronto a 1-0 lead just over 12 minutes in.
Toronto would keep up the high intensity play, before taking a too many men penalty.
Buffalo started their power play with a few good chances, and with less than a minute left, forward J.J Peterka scored his fifth goal of the season to give Buffalo its first power play goal in its last 10 attempts, and tie the game at one.
After the goal, Buffalo continued to apply pressure, but the game remained tied late.
Just before the end of the period, Buffalo took their second penalty of the night, giving Toronto a power play tied at one heading into the first intermission.
2nd period
The Sabres were able to kill off the penalty to start the second period, and the team would use this momentum to generate offense.
This surge would lead to two penalties against the Maple Leafs and give them a golden opportunity to take their first lead of the night.
However, Toronto was able to kill off both penalties, thanks to great saves from goaltender Joeseph Woll and the game remained tied at one early in the second period.
Buffalo would then take another penalty, their third of the game, giving Toronto another chance to score.
Despite Toronto having the power play, Sabres Tage Thompson broke through the Maple Leafs defense and scored to give Buffalo its first short-handed goal of the season, and also the team’s first lead 2-1.
The two teams would then start to play more defensively for a few minutes, before Buffalo took its fourth penalty of the night.
This would provide Maple Leafs Auston Matthews with a good chance to score, and that he did, tying the game back up, this time at two.
However, Buffalo would respond quickly as Jeff Skinner rifled a slapshot past Woll to give the Sabres the lead back just 34 seconds after the Maple Leafs tied it.
On the goal, Sabres defensemen Ryan Johnson recorded his first career point, as Buffalo took a 3-2 lead.
The Maple Leafs were again trying to tie the game, getting a few high-quality chances, but Levi was able to make some key saves and keep Buffalo in front by one.
Both teams started to play more defensively from that point on, and Buffalo went into the intermission with a one-goal lead.
3rd period
Toronto started the third period off with a quick goal from Auston Matthews to tie the game at three just 17 seconds into the period.
Buffalo would respond a few minutes later, as forward Jordan Greenway tapped in a rebound to retake the lead, this time 4-3.
Casey Mittelstadt records his 150th career point as a Buffalo Sabre on the play, off of an assist.
Maple Leafs started to apply pressure, but Buffalo still holds a one goal edge.
After continuing to apply pressure, Maple Leafs Auston Matthews tipped in a long shot from teammate Mark Giordano to record his third hat trick of the season, and once again tying the game 4-4.
Buffalo, looking to regain the lead, started to receive some high-quality chances, including a breakaway from J.J. Peterka that was ultimately stopped by Woll to keep the game tied at four.
The Sabres kept up the high intensity, with a few more chances, including two more from Peterka, but the game remained tied.
That was until forward Alex Tuch recorded his second goal of the season, redirecting a shot from defensemen Rasmus Dahlin, to give Buffalo a 5-4 lead.
The Sabres weren’t done however, as they kept applying pressure on Toronto.
This pressure would lead to a turnover by Woll, that Sabres Jordan Greenway almost scored off of, but was denied by a Toronto defensemen to keep it a one-goal game.
Toronto would then pull their goaltender, in search of an offensive push that would tie the game.
Despite their best efforts, Sabres Alex Tuch was able to steal the puck and score the empty net goal to give Buffalo a 6-4 lead late in the game.
The two-goal difference would be too much for the Maple Leafs to overcome, and the Sabres would hold on to win 6-4.
Takeaways
The Sabres bounced back from an ugly loss, with a big win in Toronto against a division opponent.
This was thanks to great special teams and offense, as the Sabres played a well-rounded game to win on the road.
Buffalo is now 6-6-0 on the season, and is 3-1-0 against teams in their division.
The team now looks ahead to their matchup Tuesday night with the 7-5-0 Carolina Hurricanes.