Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The goals came fast and furious Friday night in Buffalo as the Sabres beat the Maple Leafs 5-3 at KeyBank Center. Mattias Samuelsson scored twice and Alex Tuch sealed the win with a short handed goal in the final moments to stave off Toronto's push to tie the game late. Alex Lyon stopped 30 shots in the victory.
Buffalo got the scoring started early as Mattias Samuelsson ripped home a wrister on a great feed from Ryan McLeod less than five minutes into the first period.
Less than a minute later, Toronto tied the game as William Nylander broke in alone and beat Alex Lyon through the pads to make it 1-1.
The goals kept coming quick with Buffalo taking the lead right back again as Jiri Kulich made it a 2-1 game just 6:12 into the first period.
With Tage Thompson in the box for hooking, the Maple Leafs would tie the game 2-2 on a one-timer from Auston Matthews from the face off circle. Toronto would then take back to back penalties and give the Sabres an extended 5 on 3, but Buffalo couldn't take advantage keeping the score level in the final minutes of the first period.
Tage Thompson put the Sabres back in front on a wrister from the slot making it 3-2 midway through the second period.
It was Mattias Samuelsson scoring his second of the night to extend the Sabres lead to 4-2, earning his first career multi-goal game.
Toronto would make it a one goal game as Dakota Joshua slammed home a loose puck just 1:55 into the third period.
As Rasmus Dahlin sat in the box for delay of game, Owen Power fed Alex Tuch in alone for a shorthanded goal to extend the Sabres lead to 5-3 with just three minutes left in regulation.
Buffalo would hold on for the win and extend their home winning streak to four games.
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GAME RECAP
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 4:38 - Mattias Samuelsson (1) (Ryan McLeod, Alex Tuch), 6:12 - Jiri Kulich (3) (Zach Benson, Tage Thompson)
TOR: 5:01 - William Nylander (3) (Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo), 12:45 - Auston Matthews (5)(PPG) (John Tavares, Oliver Ekman-Larsson)
Second Period:
BUF: 7:20 - Tage Thompson (2) (Bo Byram, Jiri Kulich), 13:10 - Mattias Samuelsson (2) (Rasmus Dahlin, Peyton Krebs)
TOR: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 16:59 - Alex Tuch (3)(SHG) (Owen Power)
TOR: 1:55 - Dakota Joshua (1) (Easton Cowan, Nicolas Roy)
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STATS OF THE GAME
Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Mattias Samuelsson - BUF
2.) Alex Tuch - BUF
3.) Alex Lyon - BUF
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What's next: The Sabres and Maple Leafs head north of the border for the back end of the home and home Saturday night with a 5:00 p.m. ET face off from Scotiabank Arena. Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550 starting with the pregame at 4:00 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol.