For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The Toronto Maple Leafs took advantage of a second period outburst, as Tyler Ennis scored the game-winner in a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena on NHL Trade Deadline Day,. John Tavares, Auston Matthews and Frederik Gauthier scored in a span of 2:04 in the middle frame after a Jack Eichel power play goal gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead late in the first. Former Sabre Ennis added his ninth of the season to increase the lead to 4-1, but Buffalo bounced back with goals from Sam Reinhart late in the second and Eichel off the opening draw in the third to narrow the Toronto lead to one. Kasperi Kapanen iced the game with a shorthanded goal late in regulation to preserve Frederik Andersen’s 29th win of the season, who made 31 saves and kept Toronto in front with a number of key saves. The Leafs won their second straight at home after losing three straight and have moved to within one point of idle Boston in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. The game came mere hours after the 3pm NHL Trade Deadline, where Western contenders Winnipeg, Nashville and Vegas loaded up with the acquisitions of Kevin Hayes, Wayne Simmonds, Mikael Granlund and Mark Stone and the Columbus Blue Jackets went all in with trades for Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid and Keith Kinkaid. Eastern contenders were not as active. Division leaders Tampa Bay and the NY Islanders made no moves. Pittsburgh attempted to compensate for blueline injuries on the weekend with trades for Erik Gudbranson and Chris Wideman and Washington added depth Carl Hagelin and Nick Jensen. Boston (the Leafs likely first round opponent) bolstered their top nine with the addition of Charlie Coyle last week and added rental Marcus Johansson from New Jersey, but Toronto GM Kyle Dubas could not pull of anything of significance prior to the deadline, adding only depth forward Nic Petan in exchange for Par Lindholm. “In the end, you make the best decisions you possibly can to help your club and you've always got to weight the cost with the benefit.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “We're ecstatic to have the opportunity that we have. We like our team, we still think there's a ton of growth from within, we think we can play a lot better and we look forward to that. I think (Trevor) Moore can really help our hockey club. I don't know the Petan kid as good, but we're excited to add him as a member of our group and the group we have from within. We really feel we can play a lot better and we look forward to the opportunity to show it.… Prior to the deadline, there were indicators that moves involving Connor Brown and possibly Jake Gardiner were in the wind and that Dubas was in on Carolina’s Michael Ferland or possibly a variety of top-four blueliners, but that the Hurricanes chose to keep the big winger as an own-rental and the Leafs could not find a good fit in a deal.
The Leafs choice to stand pat was an expression of confidence that the current group can rise to the occasion against Boston in the first round in early April, but they will have to play at a much higher level (especially in their own end) to achieve a level of success. Toronto is relying on their quality depth and firepower to cover up their slow starts in games and defensive shortcomings. The club continues to be spotty with Ron Hainsey occupying a spot on the top pairing and with the second pairing of Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev having difficulty clearing out their own zone. If these issues lead to another early playoff exit, they will be items that Dubas can no longer ignore in the off-season and may lead to significant roster changes over the summer. *******