Reliving the Buffalo Sabres series win over the Maple Leafs in 2021-22
The Maple Leafs may be a great hockey team, but when they hit the ice against the Buffalo Sabres, they know how to lose in spectacular fashion.
The Buffalo Sabres enjoyed a 3-1 series win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021-22. So to open up September, September 2nd, actually, I thought it would be fun to relive three dominating wins over the Team Up North in March and April 2022.
In fact, the Sabres have made it a pretty annual affair in what has really been a one-sided rivalry: At the time of this writing, they hold a 120-70-18-10 record over their cross-border rivals. If you look into the history books of professional sports, there aren’t very many teams out there that have enjoyed the type of dominance over their division rivals quite like the Sabres.
And last season, when the Sabres were down and out – as arguably the worst team in hockey, it was that March 2nd contest that changed the scope of the Sabres season. Let’s relive it and the other two matchups that saw the Sabres outscore the Leafs 15-5.
Reliving the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs: March 2nd, 2022
On March 2nd, the Buffalo Sabres skated into Toronto, Ontario riding a 16-30-8 record, good for just 40 points. Meanwhile, the Leafs were 35-14-4 (74 points). This was going to be a lopsided affair, nonetheless. Problem was, it ended up as a lopsided contest for the Sabres, who took this game 5-1.
The two teams traded blows in the first period, following a power play goal from Jacob Bryson while Rasmus Sandin found the back of the net at the 11:48 mark. The game was a defensive struggle past the halfway point, with the bitter rivals unable to get the better of the other. Not at least until Victor Olofsson found twine at 12:19.
Tage Thompson followed suit at 18:31 and put the Sabres in a commanding lead. Jeff Skinner all but sealed the deal at the 6:39 mark in the third period, before Kyle Okposo effectively put the Leafs away just over halfway through the third.
Not only was this game a shocker; it was a showing of dominance and that a hockey team can upset a powerhouse on any given day. But, doing something once can be considered a fluke, so the Sabres had a lot to prove just 11 days later.
Heritage Classic – March 13th, 2022
This one took place outdoors at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario. While the Buffalo Sabres were your designated home team for the Heritage Classic, they didn’t have much backing on neutral ice. And for a minute there, we thought we were going to see a defensive game in the chill of Hamilton.
Then Ondrej Kase scored 40 seconds into the second period, putting the Leafs up 1-0. By the 2:57 mark, it was 2-1 Leafs, with Peyton Krebs scoring for the Sabres and Auston Matthews once again doing what he does best. Less than eight minutes later, however, Vinnie Hinostroza got one by Petr Mrazek and tied the game at two heading into the final period.
This is where things got good for the Sabres and dicey for the Leafs. Hinostroza scored again at the 5:16 mark in the third and put Buffalo on top for the first time in the game. Krebs scored again at 13:49 and gave the Sabres a commanding lead.
As mentioned, the Leafs got a little dicey toward the end here, with Matthews throwing a cross-check on All-Star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Matthews’ actions would result in a two-game suspension for the forward.
Following the incident, Tage Thompson iced things off with an empty-netter and the Sabres went home with the 5-2 win, having outscored the Leafs 10-3 over the last two outings. But there was still one more matchup to go.
April 12th, 2022
As mentioned, doing something once might be a fluke. Doing something twice will cause outsiders to take notice. But if you can do something three times, you are well on your way to mastering a craft. Once again, the April 12th, 2022 affair took place north of the border, and it was a matchup between two rivals: One rival was fighting to attain the best possible playoff seed while the other, your Buffalo Sabres, continued to fight for respect.
And at 7:25 in the first period, respect looked like it was going to win out, with Kyle Okposo sinking one on the power play. After the Leafs scored at the 2:09 mark of the second, Tage Thompson responded on a second power play goal at nine minutes and 11 seconds, putting the Sabres ahead 2-1.
Then Jeff Skinner got in on the action at the 4:09 mark of the third before Rasmus Dahlin scored a minute and a half later, giving the Sabres a commanding 4-1 lead. The Leafs made the score a bit more respectable at 8:53, but at 17:42, Rasmus Asplund sunk an empty-netter and sent the Sabres back to the Queen City with a 5-2 win.
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It was a classic showing of outright dominance over the Leafs in March and April 2022. And while the Sabres set a record of futility with an 11-season playoff drought, the Leafs would finish the season holding the longest-active drought without winning a playoff series. The Sabres may not have won often, but at least they can say they bested their chief rival three games to one in 2021-22.
(Statistics and historical data provided by Hockey-Reference)