Toronto, Ontario (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres' latest winless streak has reached double-digits.
Though in control, leading 3-1 at one point in the second period, the Sabres coughed up four unanswered goals to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-3 loss at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.
The Sabres got things started nice and early in enemy territory. On an early power play opportunity, winger Jack Quinn popped just his second goal of the season from the left faceoff dot.
The blue and gold kept the pressure high in the early goings, and struck pay dirt once again.
Before the game was even three minutes old, Zach Benson teamed up with Alex Tuch, as the veteran winger flew into the Maple Leafs zone with a head of steam. Tuch sniped the team's second goal of the opening period past the glove of Toronto goalie Dennis Hildeby.
In the late stages of the first period, Toronto cut Buffalo's lead in half, as forward Max Domi snuck into some empty space right in front of Sabres goalie Devon Levi and was rewarded with a pass in front. Domi made the Sabres pay with his first goal of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Sabres re-built their two-goal lead at the midway point of the second period, as the team turned a good stop into instant offense.
Levi was able to come up with a pair of great saves on forwards William Nylander and John Tavares, leading to an immediate scoring chance the other way for the Sabres.
Sabres winger JJ Peterka was able to circle soon after entering the Maple Leafs zone, and find Quinn entering the zone. The winger then sniped his second goal of the night past Hildeby to up his season total to three.
The Leafs didn't let the Sabres' lead climb larger, though.
Minutes later, forward Nicholas Robertson's one-time snap-shot beat Levi glove side to make it 3-2, Buffalo, with 8:40 to play in the middle stanza.
Right after the goal, Toronto drew a penalty and capitalized on that man advantage to tie the contest at 3-3. Tavares' deflection in front of Levi evened the score, as another multi-goal lead for the Sabres evaporated.
Tavares made another appearance on the score sheet moments later for Toronto's third goal in two-and-a-half minutes. What was once a 3-1 Sabres lead flipped on its head, and was suddenly a 4-3 Maple Leafs advantage, as the veteran forward buried his 14th goal of the season.
The Maple Leafs went on to own play in the third period, and suffocate the Sabres with constant pressure. Though Levi stood strong in net, the offense offered no help, as all Toronto had left to do was ice the game in the late stages.
Tavares eventually capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 2:12 to play to complete the natural hat-trick.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 1:03 - Jack Quinn (2) PPG (JJ Peterka, Bowen Byram); 2:46 - Alex Tuch (9) (Zach Benson, Tage Thompson)
TOR: 15:45 - Max Domi (1) (Nicholas Robertson, Bobby McCann)
Second Period:
BUF: 9:11 - Jack Quinn (3) (JJ Peterka, Mattias Samuelsson)
TOR: 11:20 - Nicholas Robertson (3) (Bobby McCann, Max Domi); 12:41 - John Tavares (13) PPG (Auston Matthews, William Nylander); 13:51 - John Tavares (14) (Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
TOR: 17:48 - John Tavares (15) ENG (Matthew Knies, Mitch Marner)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1.) John Tavares - TOR
2.) Nicholas Robertson - TOR
3.) Max Domi - TOR
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What's next:
The Sabres wrap their three-game road trip on Tuesday when they head to Montreal, Quebec to visit the Canadiens. Puck drop from the Bell Centre is set for 7 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.