The Shaky Start
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ third-string goaltender, Hideby, looked shaky to start the hockey game, letting in two one-on-one goals. On the other end, Buffalo Sabres’ goalie Levi looked big to start the period, boxing out the Leafs on two straight power plays.
Mitch Marner’s Injury Scare
Leafs’ star Mitch Marner escaped serious injury when an errant puck deflected into his face, hitting him in the nose.
Domi Breaks Through
Finally, Domi broke through with his first goal of the season and the first Leaf goal of the game as the Domi line blitzed the Buffalo defense for the first time in the game. The pace of the Leafs players picked up significantly after the Domi goal to end the first period.
Choppy Second Period
The second period started off choppy, with the Domi line getting caught out for almost two minutes. Hideby was finally able to freeze the puck for some relief.
Buffalo Takes the Lead
The Leafs looked tired and slow in the second period, and a youthful Buffalo Sabres forward, Quinn, snapped an unscreened shot past the woeful Hideby.
Domi and Robertson Respond
Play was again taken over by the Domi line, with a near miss by Domi but the stolen back play by the Leafs’ Domi with a beautiful Domi/McMann passing play to Robertson for a top-shelf goal.
Leafs Power Play Dominance
Shortly after the goal, Toronto gets a power play from an errant slash from Buffalo, which they capitalized on with a one-time from Matthews tipped into the net by Tavares.
Tavares then quickly rips another goal a minute later, which seemed to wake the legs up of the Leafs, and Buffalo started to back into their shell.
Matthews’ Near Miss
Buffalo starts the third with a tripping/hooking play to Matthews, who had a heck of an opportunity to slide the fifth goal behind Levi. Matthews rings the post in the power play and buries the puck into Levi’s chest, other than that, it was a hapless power play.
Levi Stands Tall
Matthews and Marner continued to assault the Buffalo defense, but Levi stood tall shift after shift. The Leafs are in control now, attempting the fancy passes that are really not connecting.
Domi Line’s Dominance
Halfway through the third, Levi has made save after save and looked very impressive. The Domi line continued its dominance of the game. Robertson continued hitting the end, being very aggressive in his play, leading the line with McMahon’s speed.
Tavares’ Hat Trick Seals the Win
In the last few minutes of the game, Buffalo tried a last-ditch effort to tie up the game, but Tavares scored his hat trick for a Leafs win.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs faced off against the Buffalo Sabres in a thrilling hockey game.
- The Leafs’ third-string goaltender, Hideby, struggled early on, letting in two one-on-one goals.
- Mitch Marner narrowly avoided a serious injury when an errant puck hit him in the nose.
- Domi broke through with his first goal of the season, sparking the Leafs’ offense.
- The second period was a back-and-forth affair, with the Sabres taking the lead briefly.
- The Domi line, led by Domi and Robertson, responded with a beautiful passing play for a goal.
- The Leafs’ power play dominated, with Matthews and Tavares scoring to give the Leafs the lead.
- Levi stood tall in net for the Sabres, but Tavares’ hat trick sealed the win for the Leafs.
