National Hockey League
Toronto 6, Buffalo 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, December 20, 2024
Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Referees: Jake Brenk, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Michel Cormier, Jonathan Deschamps
Attendance: 18267

William Nylander scored and added two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs doubled up the host Buffalo Sabres 6-3 on Friday night.

Bobby McMann, Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson each scored a goal and an assist. Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Leafs, who have won three straight.

Toronto improved to 13-1-1 when scoring first this season.

Matt Murray, making his first NHL start in 628 days after being recalled from the AHL's Toronto Marlies on Friday, made 24 saves for his seventh career victory over the Sabres.

JJ Peterka, Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Power scored for Buffalo, which has lost 12 straight (0-9-3).

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by James Reimer, who stopped 14 of 15 shots.

McMann opened the scoring 1:29 into the first, one-timing a Domi feed past Luukkonen.

Alex Tuch appeared to have tied the game 1:05 later, but the goal was disallowed as Jason Zucker was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking Chris Tanev prior to the Sabres scoring.

Toronto doubled its lead on the ensuing power play as Matthews snapped a Nylander feed past Luukkonen at 6:05.

Robertson made it 3-0, snapping a shot five-hole past Luukkonen at 1:53 of the second period.

Peterka responded 29 seconds later, handcuffing Murray with a wrist shot glove-side.

Toronto restored the three-goal lead at 4:27 of the second period, with Domi one-timing a McMann pass past Luukkonen for his third of the season. That ended Luukkonen's night.

Pacioretty tipped in a Nylander cross-ice feed past Reimer at 10:47 of the second, giving the Leafs a 5-1 lead.

Buffalo pulled to within three when Samuelsson snapped a shot past Murray at 15:56 of the second.

Power tapped in the rebound off of Jiri Kulich's shot with 8:04 left in the game to pull Buffalo to 5-3.

The Sabres blue liner thought he'd pulled Buffalo to within one, one-timing a Rasmus Dahlin pass past Murray with 3:26 remaining. But Toronto successfully challenged for goaltender interference, negating the goal.

Nylander added an empty netter with 19.1 seconds remaining.

Dahlin returned after missing seven games with back spasms. The defenseman finished with 27:33 of ice time.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Toronto   Buffalo
William Nylander 3 Points JJ Peterka 2
William Nylander 1 Goals JJ Peterka 1
William Nylander 2 Assists JJ Peterka 1
Auston Matthews 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Matt Murray .889 Save Percentage James Reimer .933
Matt Murray 24 Saves James Reimer 14
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Toronto 29 6 1-3 2-2 13 27
Buffalo 27 3 0-2 2-3 15 20
Upcoming Games
  • Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Sabres have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .238 after a loss.
  • Toronto will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .619 after a win and .667 after a loss.