Mats Sundin scored twice and added an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs dealt the Buffalo Sabres their first regulation-time loss of the season, a 4-1 pounding Saturday night in Buffalo.
Jeff O'Neill and Darcy Tucker also had goals for the Leafs (8-5-3), who have won four of their last five games, while Alexei Ponikarovsky chipped in a pair of helpers and Andrew Raycroft stopped 29 shots.
Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, left, and defenceman Toni Lydman team up to deny a shot by Mats Sundin during the first period of Saturday's game in Buffalo.
(Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
"He's our captain and a huge part of our hockey club," Darcy Tucker said of Sundin. "He's the leader of our team, and goes out and plays hard every night. Tonight was just a phenomenal game."
Jochen Hecht scored the only goal for the Sabres, who got 29 saves from Ryan Miller.
It was the first game this season in which Buffalo (11-1-1) failed to earn at least a point. Their only other loss came in a shootout against the Atlanta Thrashers last Saturday.
It was also just the fifth time the Sabres have lost to the Leafs in the teams' past 23 meetings in Buffalo.
"Make no mistake about it, they dodged some bullets this year," Toronto centre Michael Peca said. "This bullet hit them. There's two angles — it's either a major upset or they're going to lose one eventually, so no big deal."
Maxim Afinogenov, who went into the game tied with Atlanta's Marian Hossa for second place in the NHL scoring race, left in the first period with what was described as an upper-body injury and did not return.
Top line leads Leafs
Hecht opened the scoring 7:07 into the game. Cutting in on goal from the right wing, he held off Leafs defenceman Brendan Bell with one hand and shovelled the puck past Raycroft with the other.
Toronto got an excellent opportunity to tie the game off an odd-man rush with under six minutes remaining. Kyle Wellwood stripped Buffalo defenceman Toni Lydman of the puck at the Leafs' blue-line and sent a pass over to Ponikarovsky, who found a trailing Sundin for an open-net chance. But a hustling Lydman atoned for his miscue by sliding into the crease to block Sundin's low shot.
The Leafs' top line made good later in the first as Wellwood threw the puck on net and Sundin got his stick on it to deflect it past Miller.
Pass finds Tucker
Toronto used a two-man advantage to take the lead at 9:20 of the second. Operating from the left point, Sundin faked a slapshot and slid a pass through a maze of players in front of the net to Tucker, who was camped beside the post for an easy tap-in.
The Leafs went up 3-1 when, working behind the Sabres' net, Matt Stajan found O'Neill near the hash marks for a one-timer.
Toronto struck again less than a minute later as Sundin and defenceman Ian White worked a give-and-go that ended with the Leafs captain roofing a shot from point-blank range.
The Leafs outshot the Sabres 17-4 in the second period to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the dressing room.
"For us, we're still looking for an identity and consistency to be a good team in this league," said Sundin, whose second multi-goal game of the season gave him eight points in his last four games.
"I thought tonight we were a good team. It's been up and down for us lately, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction for this club."
Penalties to Bates Battaglia and former Sabres captain Mike Peca gave Buffalo a two-man advantage at 5:11 of the third. But the Sabres couldn't capitalize, effectively ending their hopes of duplicating Thursday's comeback win from a 4-1 deficit in Boston.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
Internal Links
More Hockey Headlines »
- Reeling Oilers fall to Blues
- Lee Stempniak's third-period insurance goal clinched a 5-3 home win for the St. Louis Blues over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday afternoon.
- Flyers name Holmgren GM for season
- The Philadelphia Flyers have removed the interim tag on Paul Holmgren, making him the team's general manager for the rest of the season, owner Ed Snider said Saturday.
- Kings claim Murray, shelve Sopel
- The Los Angeles Kings claimed centre Marty Murray off waivers from Philadelphia on Saturday and placed defenceman Brent Sopel on injured reserve.
- Canada wins Four Nations Cup
- The Canadian women's hockey team captured the Four Nations Cup with a 5-2 win over the U.S. on Saturday.
- Flames extend win streak
- The Calgary Flames are unbeaten in four games after they scored three unanswered goals Saturday night to erase a 2-0 first-period deficit in Vancouver against the Canucks.
More Sports Headlines »
- Lions win West final in a rout
- The B.C. Lions rode 29 first-half points and a masterful performance by quarterback Dave Dickenson to a 45-18 drubbing of visiting Saskatchewan in the CFL West final on Sunday.
- Alouettes returning to Grey Cup
- The Montreal Alouettes will make a return trip to the Grey Cup following a 33-24 victory over the Toronto Argonauts Sunday at Olympic Stadium.
- Reeling Oilers fall to Blues
- Lee Stempniak's third-period insurance goal clinched a 5-3 home win for the St. Louis Blues over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday afternoon.
- Bruce blasts CFL officials
- Argonauts wide receiver Arland Bruce III accused CFL officials of being racist following Toronto's 33-24 loss to the hometown Montreal Alouettes in the East final on Sunday.
- Raptors remain winless on road
- The Toronto Raptors' struggles in Sacramento continued on Sunday night as Kevin Martin registered a game-high 26 points in a 107-92 Kings victory.
