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Maple Leafs Overcome Early Deficit to Down Sabres, 4-3

By Chris Okrainetz

Jan 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman (11) and forward Connor Brown (12) congratulate forward Auston Matthews (34) on his goal against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman (11) and forward Connor Brown (12) congratulate forward Auston Matthews (34) on his goal against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite trailing 2-0 after the first period, the Toronto Maple Leafs (21-13-8) battled back and defeated the Buffalo Sabres (16-18-9) on Tuesday night, 4-3.

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Thoughts and Observations

  • Despite falling behind 2-0 after the first period, the Toronto Maple Leafs battled back and scored four answered goals to down the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3.

    • All the pre-game hype was around the

    Auston Matthews

    versus

    Jack Eichel

    matchup. Well, after 60 minutes between the two Americans, I’d say the first round goes to Matthews, who not only scored a goal, but also went 13-for-18 in the face-off circle, with the majority of those draws coming against Eichel.

    More from Toronto Maple Leafs

  • Morgan Rielly headed to the locker room after colliding with Willy Carrier and his leg bent awkwardly as he hit the ice. Although he returned to the bench after missing a few shifts, he never went back on the ice and would eventually head back to the locker room and not return.

    • In 2011, Rielly had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee while he was with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Hopefully this injury has nothing to do with his surgically repaired knee.

  • Giveaways killed the Leafs in the first period. Connor Carrick had a bad one early on, but he managed to make a diving recovery and prevent Eichel from a scoring opportunity. Midway through the opening frame, Frederik Andersen had a terrible giveaway when he cleared the puck right to Kyle Okposo, which led to the opening goal. Then Jake Gardiner had a giveaway late in the period and it led to Evander Kane‘s goal. There wasn’t a slew of giveaways, but anytime the Leafs did turn the puck over, the Sabres made them pay.

    • Cliche hockey moment midway through the second period when Andersen made a big save on one end, and that led to a great play on the other end when Auston Matthews went bar down on

    Robin Lehner

    with this beautiful wrist shot.

  • The Leafs hemmed the Sabres in their own zone during the second period and their constant pressure led to three goals. Much to his displeasure, Lehner was eventually chased from the game and he had a few choice words for head coach Dan Bylsma as he was skating towards the bench.
    • Zach Bogosian

    gifted the Leafs with a power play opportunity with just over seven minutes left to play in the third period when he took a senseless penalty. The Leafs quickly made Bogosian pay for his mistake when

    James van Riemsdyk

    scored this ridiculous bad angle goal. The goal also extended his point streak to eight games.

    Toronto was much better in the face-off circle on Tuesday night, winning 61.53 percent of the draws.

  • Gardiner was fantastic and he stepped up in a major way once Rielly exited the game. He played a season-high 29:24. Matt Hunwick also stepped up and played 27:32. Actually, the defence unit as a whole was pretty darn good on Tuesday.

    • The Sabres’ Twitter account took a jab at the Leafs’ Twitter account earlier in the night, but the Leafs had the last laugh once the game ended.

    Mike Babcock said the Leafs will not have an update on Rielly until tomorrow, according to

    Sportsnet’s

    Chris Johnston.

    Stat of the Night

    1-8-1

    Entering tonight’s game, the Leafs were 0-8-1 when trailing after the first period, as Paul Hendrick pointed out after the first 20 minutes of action. While the Leafs are the most productive first period team in the league, we finally saw some positive regression towards this stat in particular, with the Leafs rattling off four unanswered goals, en route to a 4-3 victory.

    Another stat worth re-mentioning is Gardiner’s season-high 29:24 of ice time. With 28:52 in even strength play, he was a workhorse for the Leafs.

    What’s Next

    The Maple Leafs will welcome the New York Rangers (28-16-1) to the Air Canada Centre on Thursday night. The Leafs beat the Rangers 4-2 this past Friday at Madison Square Garden with Henrik Lundqvist in net. King Henrik was in net for the Rangers on Tuesday night when they were thrashed, 5-3, by the Dallas Stars.

    With the Rangers set to have both Friday and Saturday off after Thursday’s game against the Leafs, perhaps we’ll see youngster Magnus Hellberg between the pipes on Thursday night and Lundqvist will get some extra rest. But with regular backup Antti Raanta expected to miss seven to 10 days with a lower-body injury, the Rangers might just go right back to Lundqvist.

    Next: Maple Leafs Roundtable: Mid-Season Awards

    What did you think of the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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