Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Toronto Maple Leafs took over KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo on Saturday night both in the stands, and on the ice.
Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 60th goal of the season, while Ilya Samsonov stopped all 34 shots faced in a 3-0 shutout victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres' early first period woes continue, as the Maple Leafs jumped out to a 1-0 lead with John Tavares snapping home a wrister from the slot just five minutes into the game.
Each team were given chances to capitalize on the power play, but neither were able to convert.
Toronto extended its lead to 2-0 just 2:34 into the second period as Nicholas Robertson snuck one under the pad of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
The Sabres' power play, once again, failed to convert in the second period, this time on two more chances with the man advantage. Buffalo got another chance on the power play early in the third period, but, once again, come up empty.
Samsonov continued to frustrate the Sabres, as he made two huge saves on breakaways by Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner, followed by a point-blank opportunity by Cozens on the same rush midway through the third period to keep Buffalo off the board.
Late in the third period, the mainly pro-Toronto crowd got what they came for, witnessing Matthews score his 60th goal of the season to make it a 3-0 game. It is Matthews' second 60-goal season of his career, making him the only active player to accomplish multiple seasons of hitting that goal mark.
In the final moments of the game, there was an altercation by all 10 skaters on the ice after a big hit in the corner. Each skater was given a 10-minute misconduct with 56 seconds left in regulation.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
TOR: 4:58 - John Tavares (24) (William Nylander, Conor Timmins)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
TOR: 2:34 - Nicholas Robertson (11) (Matthew Knies)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
TOR: 14:23 - Auston Matthews (60) (Conor Timmins)
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Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Ilya Samsonov - TOR
2.) Auston Matthews - TOR
3.) John Tavares - TOR
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What's next:
The Sabres welcome Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals to KeyBank Center on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop in Buffalo. It is also expected to be Jeff Skinner's 1,000th game played in the NHL.
Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550, starting with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. ET with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog.