The Toronto Maple Leafs were victorious tonight in Buffalo, beating the Sabres by a score of 6-3. Newly acquired Maple Leaf Ryan O’Reilly scored a hat-trick, while Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner recorded a five-point night! It was an entertaining matchup between two of the league’s best offenses, but this time it was the Maple Leafs earning the victory in Buffalo.
In the opening period of this one, the Toronto Maple Leafs certainly started with a bang. After a pretty even start, all was changed once newly acquired Maple Leaf Ryan O’Reilly opened the scoring. The 32-year-old received a beautiful feed from Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner in the slot, catching Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen out of position for a wide-open finish. This was O’Reilly’s first goal as a Maple Leaf and his 13th goal of the season.
After the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead only 3:51 into the game, the blue and white didn’t stop there. On the exact shift after O’Reilly’s goal, thirty-seven seconds later, Maple Leaf forward Mitch Marner sent a nifty backhanded pass to teammate Ryan O’Reilly who scored his second of the game. The newly acquired Maple Leaf took the puck on his backhand and made no mistake going glove side on the Sabres goaltender. The Maple Leafs took a 2-0 lead 4:28 into the game.
After the Maple Leafs hot start, Toronto kept their foot on the gas. This time it was Maple Leafs captain John Tavares scoring the team’s third goal. Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner sent a puck to the net, which caused a wide-open rebound for the Maple Leafs captain. John Tavares scored his 26th goal of the season, giving the Maple Leafs a 3-0 only 7:14 into the first. Up to this point, the Maple Leafs were still yet to surrender a shot as the Maple Leafs continued to dominate.
After the Maple Leafs went up by three, the Buffalo Sabres decided to use their timeout. Once the game resumed, play started getting a little more balanced. However, it wasn’t too long before the Toronto Maple Leafs broke through yet again. This time doing the damage was Michael Bunting after receiving a beautiful heads-up pass from Morgan Rielly. The Maple Leafs defenseman sent Michael Bunting on a one-against-one, cutting to the outside. Michael fired one up and over the blocker of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The Maple Leafs went up 4-0 only 12:09 into the game.
After the Maple Leafs dominant start, the Sabres started to find their groove. Although nothing came out of it, the Sabres continued to play with more aggression. As we slowly approached the first intermission, Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch started a scrum. The 26-year-old kept whacking at Maple Leaf goaltender Ilya Samsonov which didn’t sit well with the blue and white. Once the scrum was sorted out, the Maple Leafs closed the period with a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the second period.
In the middle frame of this one, the Buffalo Sabres certainly looked much better. After both sides came out of the intermission with good speed, it was Buffalo who circulated early. Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov was tested routinely but was able to keep out the danger. A refreshing scene for Maple Leafs fans as the team’s goaltender stopped the surge.
After the blue and white built off the strong play from their goaltender, a hardworking play by Maple Leafs forwards Michael Bunting and Noel Acciari drew a penalty on Buffalo. Once the Maple Leafs went to the power-play, the top unit came so close to a fifth until a smart fake-shot pass from John Tavares to a wide-open William Nylander was converted. The Maple Leafs star ripped one up high on Sabres goaltender Craig Anderson for his 32nd goal of the season.
The Maple Leafs closed out the second period with a whopping 5-0 lead. Despite a stronger period from Buffalo, the young and offensive Sabres just couldn’t break Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Buffalo ended up outshooting the Maple Leafs 11-7 in the middle frame, yet still gave up the only goal in the period.
As the puck dropped for the third period, the Buffalo Sabres didn’t quit. A few good looks early on Samsonov turned aside until Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Quinn finally beat Ilya Samsonov. The Buffalo Sabres forward came streaking down on a two-on-one, firing his shot glove side for his 9th goal of the season. The Sabres cut the Leafs lead to 5-1 just over five minutes into the period.
After Jack Quinn’s goal, the Buffalo Sabres started to play with some momentum. Just under three minutes later, veteran Sabres forward Alex Tuch got on the board. The 26-year-old forward sliced through the Maple Leafs neutral zone and wristed one right past Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Tuch’s goal was an absolute beauty for his 27th goal of the season, cutting the Maple Leafs lead to 5-2.
Once the Sabres scored their second of the night, the excitement in KeyBank Center started to build as the home team slowly crawled back. Despite a fair share of fans from Leafs nation, you could feel the energy starting to rise. After some offensive-zone pressure, Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner added the team’s third goal late. A beautiful read by Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who played a pass to teammate Jeff Skinner catching Maple Leafs defenseman Justin Holl flat-footed. The Sabres forward walked right in, finishing his wrist shot on Ilya Samsonov. With only 3:31 left in regulation, the Buffalo Sabres cut the Maple Leafs lead to 5-3.
After things started to get tense for the Maple Leafs, newly acquired Maple Leaf Ryan O’Reilly gave fans one more reason to celebrate. Since the Sabres pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker, a clearance by Maple Leaf Mitch Marner set up teammate Ryan O’Reilly to score a nifty empty-net goal. It wasn’t your traditional boring empty-net goal; the 32-year-old took it on his backhand, dancing around Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as the puck trickled into the goal. The newly acquired Maple Leaf scored a hat-trick in only his third game with the Maple Leafs against his former team.
It was a great showing from the blue and white for most of the game. Despite the Sabres pulling close late, the Maple Leafs offense pulled through while goaltender Ilya Samsonov made some big saves. The ending wasn’t as pretty as most would have wanted, but there’s no denying that this game could have gone much differently if Ilya Samsonov wasn’t strong in the middle frame. The Maple Leafs will now look ahead to Friday night’s game as they host the Minnesota Wild at Scotiabank Arena.
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