The Buffalo Sabres scored a much-needed upset victory over their archrival, the Toronto Maple Leafs in a thrilling, 4-3 win on the road.
Shortly into the second period, it wasn’t looking good for the Buffalo Sabres. Austin Matthews came out of nowhere to score the Toronto Maple Leafs first goal of the night, before Calle Jarnkrok scored three minutes later.
The Sabres, to that point, were playing a decent but unspectacular game, and for a few minutes there, it looked like the Leafs were going to once again, make quick work of the Blue and Gold. But Buffalo kept playing their game, and got the sticks going as the period progressed, which led to a goal from Jack Quinn to cut the deficit within one.
It was almost all Sabres from there, as Alex Tuch, in his first game back since suffering a lower-body injury, scored twice, once on the power play. Sandwiched between Tuch’s goals came one from Dylan Cozens. Toronto scored late, but their last-minute push came up short, allowing the Sabres to escape Scotiabank Arena with two points.
Buffalo Sabres were missing Alex Tuch all along
Tuch, who went down with a lower-body injury following the Sabres victory over the Florida Panthers on February 24th, was on a roll before the injury struck. Between February 15th and February 21st, he had three multi-point games, and in the win over Florida, he notched another goal.
While Tage Thompson has been the Team MVP throughout most of the season, it’s clear Tuch is every bit as valuable, as we saw tonight. And one thing is perfectly clear: If Tuch, and the rest of the lineup can stay healthy, the Sabres are going to at least hang around the wild card race.
They’ve shown time and again, especially on the road, that they can hang and beat even the NHL’s best teams when healthy. Now, it’s onto Washington, where, if their lineup remains as is, will be one exciting affair.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)