Frederik Andersen lifts Maple Leafs in win

BUFFALO -- Frederik Andersen made 42 saves and Mitchell Marner scored two goals to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Andersen helped the Maple Leafs win in Buffalo for the first time since Jan. 29, 2013 (0-4-3) with highlight saves against Zemgus Girgensons in the first period when he slid across the crease and made a leg save, and a diving save across the crease in which he deflected a Marcus Foligno shot in the second. Anderson also made a series of saves against Tyler Ennis and Sam Reinhart in the third.

"Yeah, unbelievable, I'm really happy for him," Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak said of Andersen. "Three games into the year he was getting a hard time already by some people, which I don't understand. Yeah, he's an unbelievable goalie and he stole that one for us tonight. So it's great."
WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Sabres highlights
Andersen made 44 saves in a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
"He's been amazing for us," Marner said. "He's been our best player on the ice every night and he's been giving us a chance to win. When you have a goaltender like this, you have confidence up front to do things."
Marner gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead 4:08 into the first period. He received a pass from center Tyler Bozak when he was skating toward the far post and shot the puck past Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.
Marner's second goal made it 2-0 1:50 into the second period. Marner received a pass from James van Riemsdyk from behind the net when he skated to the goal. Marner's first shot was saved by Lehner, but he put his own rebound in for his third goal of the season.

"He was playing great and focused on doing everything right," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "And then when he scored, then he probably wanted to score a little bit and focused on scoring and didn't score. Focus on doing things right and everything works out for itself."
The Maple Leafs (4-4-3) have won two games in a row. The Sabres (4-4-2) had a three-game winning streak end.
Foligno made it 2-1 5:58 into the second period when he put a rebound of a Johan Larsson shot past Andersen for his second goal of the season.
"Our game has been coming … how we need to play has been coming," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "Minus a stretch in the beginning of the second period, I thought we did a great job of getting to the offensive zone and playing in the offensive zone and working to get shots in the offensive zone. I think the shot total is a result of that."

Goal of the game

Marner's second goal was the game-winner and also was a great individual effort. Marner skated past Foligno in the slot where van Riemsdyk passed to him. Even though Marner's first shot was stopped by Lehner, he stayed with the puck and scored on the rebound.

Save of the game

With 2:03 left in the first period and the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0, Girgensons had what appeared to be an open net to shoot at, standing near the post. After he took his shot, Andersen lunged across the crease and made the save with his left leg.

Unsung moment of the game

With 11:42 remaining, the Sabres had three chances to tie the game, each which was stopped by Andersen when he made saves on Ennis and Reinhart capped off by a glove save against Ennis.

Highlight of the game

Andersen's save against Foligno at 8:19 of the second period came more than two minutes after Foligno cut the Maple Leafs lead to 2-1. Foligno had an open net to shoot at, but Andersen lunged back across the crease and deflected the puck away with his glove.

They said it

"We haven't had a lot of success here [in Buffalo]. I don't know what it is but a lot of things are different now, we've got a lot of different guys and it was nice to come out with a win. Obviously [Andersen] made some huge saves for us and helped us steal that one. It was a nice road win for us." - Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak
"Yeah, I mean, just the way we kept on the puck I think we were hungry. Obviously being down in the game, trying to get back, cutting the lead in half, you have a lot of chances to make it 3-2 or even 4-2. The goalie played really well and we've just got to take this one and make sure we're ready for Ottawa next." - Sabres left wing Marcus Foligno

Need to know

The Sabres attempted a season high 70 shots. ... The Sabres are 17-2-1 in their past 20 home games against the Maple Leafs. ... This was the Maple Leafs first road win of the season (0-3-3).

What's next

Maple Leafs: Home against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, NHL.TV)
Sabres: At the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, MSG-B, NHL.TV)