Auston Matthews' goal with less than three seconds remaining in overtime gave the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
Matthews capped off a three-point performance with his second goal of the night, taking a drop pass from Kasperi Kapanen and beating Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark to give Toronto its fifth consecutive victory.
After missing more than a month with a shoulder injury, Matthews now has five goals in three games since his return to the ice. He has 15 goals in 14 total games this season.
Matthews also scored the game's opening goal, and he picked up an assist on Patrick Marleau's game-tying effort at 14:47 of the third period. After a shot missed the net, Marleau was in position to take the puck off the boards and sneak it inside the post.
Toronto's Jake Gardiner and Buffalo's Sam Reinhart each collected a goal and an assist, while Jack Eichel scored a pair of third-period goals to temporarily put the Sabres ahead.
At the 2:39 mark of the third, Eichel was wide open on the right side of the net to collect an apparent shot from Rasmus Ristolainen that was actually a well-disguised pass. Just over 10 minutes later, Eichel struck again, when Toronto center Nazem Kadri turned the puck over and then accidentally deflected Eichel's shot into his own net.
Though Eichel entered the night fifth in the NHL with 27 assists, he had recorded just two goals in his previous 25 games.
Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen had another busy night, stopping 38 of 41 Buffalo shots. Andersen has now faced at least 40 shots in each of his past four games and in six of his past eight games.
The Maple Leafs improved to 4-0-0 in overtime games this season, and they lead the league with 11 road wins.
The Sabres are now 0-2-2 in the last four games in the aftermath of a 10-game winning streak that tied a club record.
--Field Level Media
Toronto | Buffalo | |
Auston Matthews 3 | Points | Jack Eichel 2 |
Auston Matthews 2 | Goals | Jack Eichel 2 |
Auston Matthews 1 | Assists | Rasmus Ristolainen 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Frederik Andersen .927 | Save Percentage | Linus Ullmark .867 |
Frederik Andersen 38 | Saves | Linus Ullmark 26 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Toronto | 30 | 4 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 37 |
Buffalo | 41 | 3 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 29 |