Late goal spoils Sabres' comeback effort vs. Maple Leafs

In a game of back-and-forth surges, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the last push to spoil a comeback effort by the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
Morgan Rielly sent a shot from the point off the cross bar and over the goal line to break a tie with 11.8 seconds remaining in what ended as a 5-4 victory for the Maple Leafs.
The Sabres erased a 4-2 deficit in the latter half of the third period on goals from Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin, scored just 59 seconds apart. Skinner finished with two goals and an assist.

"It was a lot of surges, and credit to both teams in that regard," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "It was tough for each team to kind of break the surge and the pressure. But once it turned, it was a surge the other way."

Toronto surged after surrendering its two-goal lead, rolling shift after shift in the Buffalo zone during the final five minutes in pursuit of the go-ahead score. It finally came when Alexander Kerfoot forced a turnover along the boards and fed Rielly at the point.
The Maple Leafs outshot the Sabres, 8-0, during the final five minutes.
"We had time to make a play," Granato said. "We didn't. You could go into a lot, but just there was time to make a play and we didn't make it."

It was a heartbreaking finish for the Sabres, who were coming off a victory over the Western Conference leading Edmonton Oilers at home on Friday. They finished the game Saturday with edges in shots (27-26) and 5-on-5 shot attempts (52-39).
"I think obviously right now you're thinking about the last shift, and you want to keep the sort of total picture of a pretty solid game for us," Skinner said afterward. "A lot of good things we can draw off of. But yeah, not a good feeling at all right now."
The Sabres never fell out of the game despite having to play from behind for most of the evening. David Kampf sent a puck sliding under the outstretched body of Robert Hagg and between the pads of goaltender Aaron Dell to put the Maple Leafs on the board just 2:43 into the contest. The Sabres answered with the first goal from Skinner, who buried a carom off the end boards.
Toronto scored twice in a span of 1:10 during the second period to pull ahead, 3-1. Ondrej Kase buried a short-side shot from low in the right faceoff circle and Jason Spezza forechecked to force the turnover that led to a one-time goal from Michael Bunting. This time, it was Tage Thompson who responded with a rocket of a shot to cut the deficit in half before the second intermission.

The Maple Leafs rebuilt their lead when John Tavares deflected a point shot for a power-play goal at 9:22 of the third period, setting the stage for the Sabres' comeback. Even facing a two-goal deficit with less than 10 minutes to play, Granato liked the confidence emanating from his players.
"I never felt we were out of the game because of the energy in front of me on the bench," he said.
Rasmus Asplund dug the puck out of the corner on the forecheck to begin a tic-tac-toe sequence from Thompson to Skinner, whose second goal came with 9:13 remaining. Dahlin tied the game less than a minute later with a slap shot from the point.
"I think we were pretty good tonight just being even-keeled, not getting too high or low," Thompson said. "It's an unfortunate way to end it, obviously, but I thought we did a pretty good job throughout the full 60 minutes there. But, obviously, we've got to find a way to win one."

Skinner stays hot

Skinner's three-point outing gave him four goals, two assists, and 22 shots over the Sabres' last six games. He tied Thompson and Victor Olofsson for the team lead with five goals this season.
"This is no surprise to me," Granato said. "… He works in practice. The details in his game right now, just the start of the year. He's refocused on a foundation that is now starting to flourish, it's starting to hit a rhythm, and some chemistry with others."

The Sabres had a 12-5 advantage in scoring chances with the line of Skinner, Thompson, and Asplund on the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Up next

The Sabres visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7.