Featured
The Good, Bad & Ugly: Maple Leafs Beat Sabres 5-3
Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5–3. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?
After suffering a disappointing 4-2 loss in Detroit on Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs got back on the winning side with a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres in a rare 5:00 pm game at home on Sunday. It was a win that triggered a visit to the Sabres by owner Terry Pegula and some news could be coming with that franchise. But, for this post, we’ll focus on the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game for the Maple Leafs.
The Ugly (Maple Leafs Give Up Two Quick Goals)
We start with ugly because the game started ugly for Toronto. It began with a terrible interference call on Chris Tanev. Tanev and the Sabres’ Zach Benson were engaged in a mutual battle for ice, with both of them draped all over each other. As you might expect, Tanev, 6’2” 195 pounds, won the battle over Benson, 5’10” 170lb. Tanev was rewarded for winning the battle with two minutes in the box.
On the ensuing power play, Jack Quinn beat Dennis Hildeby, who was in for the injured Anthony Stolarz, with an unscreened wrist shot from the face-off circle to the right of Hildeby. Just 1:43 after that, Alex Tuch beat Hildeby with a wrist shot from the inside of the same face-off circle to put the Sabres up 2-0. Jake McCabe attempted to block the shot but failed. The replay showed the puck may have glanced off of McCabe’s stick and changed direction enough to fool Hildeby. Both of the goals were on Hildeby’s glove side. At that point of the game, the shots were 7-0 Buffalo.
The Bad (Hildeby Is Shaky at the Start of Games)
Things continued to go badly for the Maple Leafs and Hildeby into the early going of the second period. After Toronto scored to narrow the deficit to one, Jack Quinn once again beat Hildeby with an unscreened wrist shot. This time it was from the inside of the face-off circle to the left of Hildeby. It beat Hildeby cleanly on the stick side.
I was apprehensive about Hildeby starting this game. He had a fantastic rookie season for the Marlies in 2023-24. But he was shelled for six goals in his last NHL game back on October 22nd in Columbus. Since then, he has not been nearly as sharp upon his return to the AHL. He has allowed three or more goals in four of his last five starts for the Marlies.
Hildeby has had a pattern of being shaky at the beginning of games, allowing multiple goals early in those games. This game was no different. Two of the three goals he allowed in the first half of this game were the type of goals that an NHL goalie is expected to stop.
The Good (The Maple Leafs Third Line)
Sticking with Hildeby, the good thing about his play of late is that he seems to settle down and get better as games progress. This game was no different as Hildeby did not allow a puck to get by him in the last half of the game. Also, the skaters in front of Hildeby did a much better job of protecting him from that point on. Quinn’s goal to put the Sabres up 3-1 was scored 49 seconds shy of the halfway point of the game. At that time, the shots were 15-11 Buffalo. From that point on, the shots in the remaining half of the contest were 32-12 Toronto.
The newly assembled line of Max Domi at center with Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann on the wings kept the Maple Leafs in the game over the first 30 minutes. John Tavares took over from there. Domi got a gorilla off his back with his first goal of the season late in the first period. He had gone 26 games without a goal. There was some hard work and a little bit of luck involved in the goal. Domi, Robertson, and McMann were buzzing in the Sabres zone.
After McMann won a battle for the puck behind the net and got it to Robertson. Robertson made a nifty no-look backhand pass to Domi, who was battling for space in front of the goal. Domi’s shot ramped up the stick of Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson over the shoulder of goalie Devon Levi into the net. Just two minutes after Buffalo went up 3-1, Robertson finished off a three-way passing play between him, Domi, and McMann with a one-timer from the bottom of the face-off circle to the left of Levi that Levi had no chance on.
Tavares Was On Fire
It was the Tavares show after that. The ex-captain scored a natural hat trick in the last half of the game. He tipped an Auston Matthews’ one-timer past Levi on the power play to tie the game 1:21 after Robertson scored. Tavares scored again just 1:10 after that with a wrist shot from the slot. After missing on two more great chances, Tavares completed his natural hat trick with a goal into the empty net with 2:12 left in the game. The three goals give Tavares 15 on the season. That puts him second on the team, three behind William Nylander and tied for 13th in NHL goal-scoring. Tavares is presently on a 40-goal pace.
The win, coupled with Florida’s 3-0 loss in Calgary Saturday night, moves the Maple Leafs into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with 40 points, two more than the Panthers with the same number of games played.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The Maple Leafs get two days to get ready for a four-game-in-six-day stretch leading up to Christmas. They are in Dallas to take on the Stars on Wednesday. Then they fly to Buffalo for a Friday game, before returning home to take on the New York Islanders on Saturday and the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
Related: Maple Leafs Overcome Deficit to Beat Sabres 5-3
