Lyon makes 31 saves for Buffalo, which has won 4 of 5; Matthews scores for Toronto
Maple Leafs at Sabres | Recap
BUFFALO — Mattias Samuelsson scored twice for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at KeyBank Center on Friday.
Jiri Kulich and Tage Thompson each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Lyon made 31 saves for the Sabres (4-4-0), who have won four of their past five games after losing their first three games of the season.
“It’s a two-way street, right? Can’t get too down on ourselves when we’re 0-3, and we’re on a bit of a heater right now, can’t get too high and forget what made you successful,” Thompson said. “I think for us the message is staying even-keeled. Continue to do things that are a recipe for winning hockey. … Now we’re feeling it a little bit so we’ve just got to ride that wave.”
William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Dakota Joshua scored for the Maple Leafs (3-4-1), who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves.
“I think when you work and compete, like we did for most of this game tonight, good things are going to happen. You’re going to get out of these little skids and you’re going to win hockey games,” Matthews said. “So, you clean up the little mistakes that cost you and cost you pucks in the back of your net and play the way and compete the way that we did tonight, I think we’ll be happy with the result most of the time.”
Nylander left the game late in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube did not have an update and was uncertain on Nylander’s potential availability for the second game of the home-and-home set in Toronto on Saturday.
“Maybe (he could play), yeah. We’ll see,” he said. “Got to see him. I got to see tomorrow.”
Samuelsson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 4:38 of the first period. Ryan McLeod spotted him coming toward the slot, and Samuelsson buried a shot blocker side.
“I think I had a good summer. … I’m just playing with a little more confidence,” Samuelsson said. “When you don’t have confidence and you’re out there every other night, it can be tough sometimes to kind of find it on the fly. And if you’re playing with just a little bit of swagger and confidence in yourself, it can go a long way.”
TOR@BUF: Samuelsson opens the game’s scoring in 1st
Nylander scored 23 seconds later to tie it 1-1. He got behind the Sabres defense, took a stretch pass from Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and had his wrist shot trickle through Lyon’s pads on a breakaway at 5:01.
Kulich finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play to put the Sabres ahead 2-1 at 6:12. Zach Benson took a pass from Thompson and gave it to Kulich, who beat Stolarz high blocker side from the low slot on a rush.
Matthews scored on a one-timer from low in the right circle on the power play at 12:45 to tie it 2-2.
TOR@BUF: Matthews cranks one-timer for PPG in 1st
Thompson put the Sabres back in front 3-2 at 7:20 of the second period. He received a pass from Bowen Byram in the slot and put a shot under Stolarz’s right arm.
Samuelsson made it 4-2 at 13:10. Rasmus Dahlin sent a cross-ice pass to Samuelsson, who was left uncovered in the left circle, and he put a rising shot into the far side of the net.
“He’s been great. He’s been rock-solid for us,” Thompson said. “Obviously, you see the size and the strength, and he’s been very physical out there, good stick, hard to play against right now, which is what we need from him. And then, obviously, he’s chipping in offense, so we love seeing that. Couldn’t happen to a better guy.”
Joshua pulled the Maple Leafs to within 4-3 at 1:55 of the third period when he slipped the puck by Lyon’s right skate from in front.
Alex Tuch pushed it to 5-3 at 16:59, slipping a backhand through Stolarz’s pads while short-handed. The goal came shortly after Lyon stopped Matias Maccelli point-blank from in close.
“We got the huge save before we got the short-handed goal,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “A huge save can turn momentum for you. Tuch goes down and scores a heck of a goal for us.”
NOTES: Toronto had won five straight against Buffalo. … Buffalo center Tyson Kozak left in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Ruff said he won’t play Saturday and that they’d probably recall someone from Rochester of the American Hockey League. … Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen backed up Lyon, his first time dressing since sustaining a lower-body injury in a preseason game on Oct. 1.
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