NHL

Buffalo Sabres at Toronto Maple Leafs

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 3

Tuch scores 2 as Sabres rally to beat Maple Leafs 4-3

Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens also scored for Buffalo, and Owen Power and JJ Peterka each had two assists for Buffalo. Craig Anderson had 25 saves as the Sabres won for just the second time in eight games (2-5-1).

“Stayed patient,” said Tuch, who missed eight games with a lower-body injury, but has six goals and three assists in his last six appearances dating back to Feb. 15. “We just stuck to it.”

Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists, and William Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Toronto. Mitch Marner had two assists and Matt Murray stopped 25 shots.

The Maple Leafs are all but assure of finishing second in the Atlantic Division, while the Sabres are trying to stay in contention for a wild card in the Eastern Conference.

“There’s enough to play for here, right?” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s still tight enough (in the standings) that if you let your foot off the gas, not only are you now losing home ice, but you’ve got other teams (chasing).”

After falling behind 2-0 early in the second period, the Sabres scored four consecutive goals over a 27-minute stretch.

“We’ve made defending a greater focal point,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Our guys recognized tonight ways they could impact it more and more as the game went along.”

Quinn batting the puck past Murray for the rookie forward’s 13th to get the Sabres on the scoreboard with 5:02 left in the second.

Anderson made a nice breakaway stop on Nylander on Toronto’s next shot early in the third — the Leafs went over 17 minutes without testing the Sabres’ goalie — before Tuch tied things at 3:39.

Murray denied Tage Thompson on a break to keep Toronto level, but Cozens gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead near the midpoint of the period for his 26th.

With the Sabres on a power play, Tuch converted a pass from Jeff Skinner with 8:41 left for his second of the night and first 30-goal season.

The Maple Leafs finally woke up as the period wore on, but Anderson stopped Michael Bunting on a 2-on-0 with John Tavares. Nylander scored his 35th from a tight angle with 1:01 remaining, but that’s as close as Toronto would come despite a wild final few seconds.

“I think 50/50 battles, just a little bit careless with the puck,” Matthews said about where things turned for Toronto. “They tilted the ice their way and now we’re just kind of chasing from that point.”

Playing his 38th career game against the Maple Leafs, Anderson was also sharp in a first period that included a couple of good looks for Matthews, who came in with 13 goals in 16 contests against the 41-year-old.

But Matthews eventually connected early in the second. After Marner and Alexander Kerfoot moved in on a 2-on-1, the latter booted the puck with his skate into the path of Matthews for him to chip his 31st upstairs.

Jarnkrok then doubled the advantage just over three minutes later when

ANTHEM AUDIBLE

A sound issue at Scotiabank Arena meant there was no audio for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to puck drop, but fans stepped in a cappella-style and belted out the U.S. national anthem before the problem was fixed in time for “O Canada.”

TUCH’S RETURN

Tuch was back in the lineup after an eight-game absence with a lower-body injury.

“Not great timing,” Tuch said following the morning skating of being on the shelf with Buffalo desperately trying to stay in the playoff chase.

UP NEXT

Sabres: At Washington on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series.

Maple Leafs: Host Colorado on Wednesday night in the third of a four-game homestand.

Regular Season Series

TOR wins series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 1:11 Auston Matthews Goal (31) Wrist Shot, assists: Alexander Kerfoot (20), Mitchell Marner (60)
Goal 2nd Period 4:13 Calle Jarnkrok Goal (15) Wrist Shot, assists: Mitchell Marner (61), Auston Matthews (35)
Goal 2nd Period 14:58 Jack Quinn Goal (13) Batted, assists: JJ Peterka (16), Owen Power (21)
Goal 3rd Period 3:39 Alex Tuch Goal (29) Wrist Shot, assists: Tage Thompson (45), Owen Power (22)
Goal 3rd Period 9:39 Dylan Cozens Goal (26) Wrist Shot, assists: Riley Stillman (6), JJ Peterka (17)
Goal 3rd Period 11:19 Alex Tuch Goal (30) Snap Shot, assists: Jeff Skinner (38), Dylan Cozens (31)
Goal 3rd Period 18:58 William Nylander Goal (35) Wrist Shot, assists: Auston Matthews (36)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/buf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBUF https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tor.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTOR
10 Blocked Shots 15
24 Hits 30
18 Takeaways 11
29 Shots 28
1 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 1
33.3 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
21 Faceoffs Won 40
34.4 Faceoff Win Percent 65.6
10 Giveaways 14
1 Total Penalties 3
2 Penalty Minutes 6
Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Chris Tanev, D Injured Reserve Mar 4
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Tyson Kozak, C Out Mar 10
Jiri Kulich, C Injured Reserve Mar 6
Jordan Greenway, LW Injured Reserve Feb 25
Justin Danforth, RW Injured Reserve Jan 26

Game Information

Scotiabank Arena

Location: Toronto, ON
Attendance: 18,688 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 40 19 86 6
Tampa Bay 39 20 82 4
Montreal 35 18 80 10
Detroit 36 22 79 7
Boston 36 22 78 6
Ottawa 32 22 73 9
Florida 32 29 67 3
Toronto 27 27 65 11
Full Standings