Sabres end six-game losing streak with win against Maple Leafs

TORONTO --The Buffalo Sabres ended a six-game losing streak with a 5-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

"I thought our guys, all four lines, all six defensemen and [goalie Craig Anderson], all played hard for each other," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "The details were there, and they mattered. They worked hard for the guys next to them. Our guys had worked really hard, and I don't think they necessarily deserved to be on the string they were on of not winning."
Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist, Dylan Cozens had two assists, and Anderson made 29 saves for the Sabres (17-30-8), who were outscored 28-12 in the streak.
"We were pretty aggressive from the get-go," Buffalo defenseman Jacob Bryson said. "We played a full 60-minute game tonight and that's what we need every night. We had been so close the last few games to winning, so tonight was a good one and a good first step in the right direction."

Rasmus Sandin scored, and Petr Mrazek made 26 saves for the Maple Leafs (35-15-4), who had won three in a row.
"Terrible from start to finish," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Our team has been playing well. We had every reason to believe our team was ready to play today. Our fans were back, we should have confidence in the way we've played here of late. Just not good from the start. I liked how we defended in the first period, I thought we did a good job of that, but offensively, how we played with the puck, we were really careless. Offensively, we were abysmal tonight, all four lines."
Victor Olofsson gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 12:19 of the second period when he put in a loose puck at the top of the crease.
Anderson preserved the lead when he stopped Pierre Engvall on a breakaway, and then made a save on the rebound at 12:47.
"That was big, that's for sure," Olofsson said. "He kept the momentum in our favor and played a great game overall. He made a lot of big saves for us."
Tage Thompson made it 3-1 at 18:31 when he got to a loose puck in the slot and shot past Mrazek's glove. It was his seventh goal in the past six games.
Skinner scored on a breakaway at 6:39 of the third period to make it 4-1. Kyle Okposo one-timed a pass from Cozens, who was behind the net, at 11:50 for the 5-1 final.
"We didn't want to back off at any point," Olofsson said. "Just keep playing smart, get pucks deep, and I think that's what we did. We made it hard on them and they had to work for every chance they got. I think we played a perfect road game."

Bryson gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead 2:26 of the first period when his shot from the point on the power play deflected off Morgan Rielly in the slot. It was his first goal of the season and ended a 77-game drought dating to March 6, 2021.
"I needed that," Bryson said. "I threw a puck at the net, which I think my game needs a little bit more of that, a lot more shots, so tonight it found the back. It was huge for me. It was good to get that first one out of the way this year."
Sandin tied it 1-1 at 11:48 when he took a pass from Michael Bunting and shot from just outside the right hash marks. It was his fifth goal in 84 NHL games but first at home.
"Coming in against Buffalo, no disrespect or anything, but that's a team we should beat," Sandin said. "We just weren't prepared the right way and something we need to get better at.
"We can't just close our eyes and move on to the next one. We need to look at it, at what we were doing wrong and what we were doing right as well. There's stuff out there that we were doing pretty well at some points, but we need to be more consistent. We need to do it every game, all the time. We need to be good on the forecheck, backcheck, on our gaps, everything."
Rielly said it was disappointing the Maple Leafs let the game slip away.
"It's just a matter of urgency," he said. "That's what you'd expect out of our group, to go into the intermission and come out and play better. I think we talked about the right things between periods, we knew what the game plan was, we knew we needed more, but it just didn't come. That was a big reason why we didn't claw back in the game. It was very disappointing."
NOTES:Toronto forward Mitchell Marner had an assist in his 400th NHL game to extend his point streak to five games (12 points: four goals, eight assists). He has scored 415 points (124 goals, 291 assists), the most by any Maple Leafs player at the time of his 400th game. … Buffalo played at Toronto for the first time since Dec. 17, 2019 (a 5-3 loss). ... Buffalo scored five goals at Toronto for the first time since March 15, 2008 (a 6-2 win) . … The Sabres and Maple Leafs play in the 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Hamilton, Ontario, on March 13.