The Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday marked the first time the club won the second of back-to-back games this season, but it took a stellar performance by goalie Frederik Andersen and an overtime goal by team captain John Tavares to gain a split in the home-and-home series between the two Atlantic Division rivals.
William Nylander and Rasmus Ristolainen exchanged goals in regulation, while Carter Hutton and Andersen kept their respective clubs in the game. Hutton faced 43 Toronto shots, while the Sabres had a number excellent scoring chances on the Leafs netminder, who made 29 saves for his 13th win of the season.
“It's nice to have Freddie there and it's nice to have a guy that's capable of that. You're going to need that at different times, without question.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “He's a big reason why we get a chance to keep the lead as long as we did and then gives us a chance to get it to overtime.”
After a subpar performance in a 6-4 loss in Buffalo on Friday, the Leafs put forth a much more complete effort in the rematch. Toronto took the lead on the power play, as Tavares and Auston Matthews set up Nylander who cut in front of the crease and backhanded it past Hutton. Their advantage lasted until the third, when Ristolainen scored a very similar goal in front of the net.
Tavares, who scored twice in the loss in Buffalo, tallied his 10th of the season and sixth point in the last three games 1:45 into overtime, beating Hutton after a drop pass from Kasperi Kapanen.
“My first shot I thought it kind of surprised (Hutton) and when I got a bit of separation again and had a little bit of a screen, I tested it again.” Tavares said after the game. “I was towards the end of my shift, so I wanted to be sure with it. I had some good room and I think I got good wood on it. I was able to time it right and happy I picked a corner.”
The victory was the Leafs fourth under new coach Sheldon Keefe and first at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto maintained a tenuous hold on third place in a tightly packed Atlantic with 3 points (13-11-4), one point behind the Florida Panthers, one point ahead of the Sabres, two points in front of Montreal, and three points ahead of Tampa Bay.
In the month of December, the Leafs schedule lightens up slightly to 13 games, but with three back-to-backs, starting Tuesday in Philadelphia and Wednesday at home against Nazem Kadri and the Colorado Avalanche. A less busy schedule will allow Keefe more practice time to implement his tactics, but the back-to-backs will continue to highlight the club’s backup goaltending, which has gone 0-6-1 this season.
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