Sabres wrap: Another second-period collapse sends Buffalo to 12th loss in a row
Owen Power scored another goal for the Sabres in the third period, but their winless streak reached 12 in KeyBank Center with a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Max Domi snapped the puck over Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's shoulder as Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram chased after the Maple Leafs winger in the second period Friday night.
Domi's shot gave the Maple Leafs another three-goal lead and occurred only a few minutes after JJ Peterka scored Buffalo's first goal of the game. It also convinced Lindy Ruff to replace Luukkonen with his backup goalie, James Reimer. The cheers from Toronto fans drowned out the boos.
Owen Power scored another goal for the Sabres in the third period, but their winless streak reached 12 in KeyBank Center with a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Buffalo is 11-18-4 overall, 0-9-3 over its last 12 games and 6-9-3 on home ice. It's last in the Eastern Conference and could be at the bottom of the NHL as soon as Saturday afternoon.
The second controversial call of the game prevented the Sabres from closing the deficit to one goal with 3:32 left in the third period. Power scored on a high shot that would have made it 5-4, but the Leafs successfully challenge for goaltender interference. Sam Lafferty skated into the crease and made contact with Matt Murray's stick. The Sabres had another goal disallowed in the first period because of a missed high-sticking call.
Mattias Samuelsson also scored for the Sabres, but they were down 5-1 when his wrist shot from the left circle beat Maple Leafs goalie Matt Murray. Domi, Max Pacioretty, Nick Robertson, Auston Matthews, Bobby McMann and William Nylander had a goal apiece for Toronto, which improved to 21-10-2.
The Sabres have allowed at least five goals in three straight games, and they have scored fewer than three goals in eight of 12 games during this skid.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews (34) celebrates his eleventh goal of the season against the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at the
KeyBank Center on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
First period
• Dennis Gilbert chased a hit in the Sabres' offensive zone, leading to a 3-on-1 that ended with McMann giving the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead only 1:29 into the game.• It appeared that Tuch tied the score 1-1 with a shot from the slot 65 seconds after McMann's goal. Tuch's goal was immediately disallowed by the officials because they missed a high-sticking penalty on Jason Zucker. The NHL Situation Room reviewed the play and confirmed the call on the ice to keep it tied 1-1 with 17:26 left.
• Matthews finished a cross-ice pass on the power play for his 11th goal of the season, giving the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead with 13:55 left.
• Tage Thompson was lured into a fight by Morgan Rielly when the Maple Leafs defenseman took exception to the Sabres center's clean hit on Matthews. Rielly was given an extra two-minute penalty, but Buffalo did not score on the power play. Its only shot on goal was a slap shot by Rasmus Dahlin.
• Murray barely stopped Bowen Byram's one timer with under three minutes left in the first period.
• Both teams had nine shots on goal in the period but Buffalo had more shot attempts (21-19).
Second period
• The Sabres' top line had a promising shift early in the second period, but a few mistakes cost them any chance at challenging Murray. Jason Zucker turned the puck over with a pass into the Maple Leafs' defensive coverage, Thompson's snap shot was blocked and Tuch missed the net.• Robertson made it 3-0 with a low shot from the right faceoff dot to score on Luukkonen with 18:07 remaining.
• Peterka scored for the Sabres only 29 seconds later with a low shot that seemed to surprise Murray, cutting the deficit to 3-1 with 17:38 left.
• The Sabres didn't have momentum for long. Domi added to Toronto's lead with a goal 4:27 into the period that had the Maple Leafs leading 4-1.
• Pacioretty drove to the net and scored on a tap-in with 8:13 remaining to increase the Maple Leafs' lead to 5-1.
• Buffalo was outscored 4-2 and outshot 12-11 during the second period. They were terrible in the defensive zone and their goaltending failed them.
Third period
• Pacioretty's shot from near the Sabres' crease was stopped by Reimer in the first minute of the third period.• Zucker and John Tavares were given slashing penalties with 10:21 remaining.
• Murray used his blocker to deflect Dahlin's shot wide with under nine minutes to play.
• Power jammed a loose puck over the goal line to cut the Sabres' deficit to 5-3 with 8:04 left in regulation. Samuelsson's drive to the net created the scoring chance.
• It looked like the deficit was cut to 5-4 with Power's high shot that went over Murray's blocker, but it got overturned by the coach's challenge.
• Nylander added an empty-net goal with 19.1 seconds left in the third period.
Lineup
Dahlin and Sam Lafferty returned from injured reserve, while Jacob Bryson, Henri Jokiharju and Nicolas Aube-Kubel were the Sabres' healthy scratches.Ryan McLeod also played despite missing practice Thursday for what Lindy Ruff called "maintenance."