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Buffalo took a lead late in the first period despite some strong play from Toronto.

The Leafs fought back and tied it through William Nylander in the second, before pulling away in the third period, getting some revenge on the Sabres for their loss the week previous.

TeamChances1st2nd3rdESESCloseESCh%NZEnt%ContEnt
Tor17755151271.4%48.7%48.1%
Buf102266528.6%51.3%19.8%

Toronto had a very impressive game, carrying the play in all aspects. They finished a long way ahead in Corsi and shut down the Sabres’ offense at ES. They had far more controlled entries than Buffalo as well, limiting the Sabres to only a handful over the three periods.

After a couple of early chances from the Sabres, Toronto took command, with an 11-2 run of chances that lasted until the start of the third period. Buffalo then were able to generate some offense on the powerplay, but after the Leafs got a successful kill, they went back on the offensive, generating the last five chances of the game, including three goals.

PeriodTimeSTSOTeamHowStateT1T2T3T4T5T6O1O2O3O4O5O6
115:2900BufGOAL! Gionta from FolignoES16202931325431222253182
114:3401TorGreening deflects Gardiner shot wideES81826313851172629314447
113:1501BufReinhart drivesES11153139445231923252831
108:1701TorSmith wide from loose puckES81826313851122228293147
108:0301TorGreening wide from SmithES81826313851122228293147
107:4001TorMichalek from SmithES81826313851122228293147
107:0101TorSoshnikov drivesES3140414344524919315590
103:2701TorHyman wraparoundES111520293139222931444782
101:3101TorKadri deflects Rielly shot wideES3140414344524926315590
217:0301BufDeslauriers from GirgensonsES18202629313831725283144
215:0701BufGionta from FolignoES8163132515431222253182
210:4001TorGrabner from RiellyES29313840434431923252831
205:2501TorNylander wide from ParenteauPP1516183139513491231
205:1401TorParenteau from GardinerPP1516183139513491231
205:0501TorGOAL! Nylander from ParenteauES151618313951349123155
202:5911TorRielly wide from SmithES1826313844523925263190
317:4811BufColaiacavo from LarssonES8182631385131222253182
316:0911BufC O'Reilly from R O'RiellySH2631404452192328315590
316:0811BufGirgensons from reboundSH2631404452192328315590
316:0711BufGirgensons from reboundSH2631404452192328315590
315:3111BufC O'Reilly deflects Ristolainen shot wideSH1131445254192328315590
313:0611TorGardiner drivesES8153139511228293147
313:0411TorGOAL! Carrick from reboundES8153139511228293147
308:4121TorSoshnikov from loose puckES3140414344523923253190
304:2821TorGOAL! Marincin from ParenteauES15314143445292329314790
303:1431TorGOAL! Michalek drivesES182629313844122225314782
302:5641BufReinhart wide from faceoffES31404143445292329314790

Leafs Player Data

PlayerESChFESChAESCh%ESTOIZS%NZ%ConEntOppConEnt
Parenteau5183.3%13:1237.5%55.0%40.9%27.8%
Kadri5183.3%16:4957.1%45.8%63.6%19.2%
Nylander4180.0%14:1637.5%50.0%36.4%27.3%
Grabner4180.0%13:2150.0%48.6%70.6%16.7%
Soshnikov4180.0%15:2366.7%50.0%72.7%22.7%
Michalek7277.8%13:1625.0%43.9%38.9%21.7%
Greening7277.8%13:4016.7%47.6%40.0%13.6%
Smith6275.0%14:1016.7%48.9%45.5%21.7%
Hyman1150.0%14:0737.5%46.7%33.3%25.0%
Brown1233.3%10:1755.6%42.3%45.5%6.7%
Gauthier020.0%09:3362.5%48.0%41.7%7.7%
Leivo020.0%11:4562.5%51.5%35.3%12.5%
Rielly7277.8%22:1150.0%50.0%57.1%17.1%
Gardiner7277.8%22:3255.6%52.5%45.2%21.4%
Carrick6275.0%17:4957.1%56.0%42.9%18.2%
Marincin5271.4%19:0866.7%44.3%59.3%17.6%
Valiev3260.0%14:4828.6%46.5%40.0%26.1%
Corrado1233.3%11:4322.2%41.2%28.6%20.0%

It was strong night for three of the Leafs‘ lines, with the most chances coming from the third unit of Milan Michalek with Ben Smith and Colin Greening. They went mostly against Gionta’s line, and were extremely effective.

Nazem Kadri and William Nylander’s lines also produced solid offense, and clearly out-chanced their opponents. Kadri matched up well against Evander Kane, and that line had a spectacular controlled entries number. Frederik Gauthier, making his NHL debut, had a quiet night in terms of chances, although his fourth line was stingy at preventing controlled entries.

Morgan Rielly and Martin Marincin joined the Kadri line in putting up good numbers against the Kane line, as did Jake Gardiner and Connor Carrick, who avoided that matchup but finished with similar chance numbers. Rinat Valiev and Frank Corrado were the bottom pairing, receiving a lot of defensive zone starts, but they weren’t overly protected in terms of matchups, and Corrado finished as the only defenseman under even in chances.