Alex Tuch scored the decisive goal of a shootout Saturday night and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2.
The Sabres made two of their three shots in the shootout and the Maple Leafs misfired on both attempts.
Owen Power and Jack Quinn scored for the Sabres in regulation. Quinn also scored in the shootout for the Sabres, who have won nine of ten. Alex Lyon stopped 16 shots.
Dakota Joshua and Max Domi scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost nine of ten. Joseph Woll made 31 saves and was the prime reason the game went to overtime.
Power started and finished the sequence that gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period. He lugged the puck out of the Sabres’ zone then moved into the slot to score on Zach Benson’s pass from behind the goal.
Lyon’s first stop of the game came on Wiliam Nylander’s breakaway at 5:15.
Joshua tied the game at 6:09 of the first with a blast from the slot after Buffalo defenseman Luke Schenn failed to clear the puck.
The Sabres continued to be careless with the puck and it allowed the Maple Leafs to generate chances during the middle part of a chippy first period. Toronto played with urgency in their first full game since a knee injury put Auston Matthews out for the season.
Domi, playing in his 800th game, gave Toronto the lead at 0:53 of the second period at the end of a 2-on-1 with William Nylander, who faked a shot from the right circle before passing.
Buffalo scored the tying goal on a power play at 11:21 of the second when Quinn’s shot from the left circle squeezed past Woll’s arm following Noah Ostlund’s no-look backhand pass. Michael Pezzetta was off for slashing. Buffalo had the better of the play for most of the second period but Woll was solid, making 11 saves.
The Sabres were dominant again for large stretches in the third period but failed to break through. Buffalo had a 10-2 edge in shots on goal in the final period.
