"Being around him every day you understand what makes him a special hockey player. His ability just to stay on the puck, track it down, when you think it's going the other way, his ability to strip guys, and obviously be able to hang onto it and protect it, use his size. So deceptive with either his shot or just finding the open man. He was a force for us tonight." -- Maple Leafs forward John Tavares on Auston Matthews
"Looking at tonight, I'm very, very disappointed in our game because it's a rivalry and we knew the magnitude of the game, and we didn't execute." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley