Preseason roundup: Maple Leafs defeat Sabres at Kraft Hockeyville

Max Domi scored his first preseason goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Kraft Hockeyville 2023 at Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas, Ontario, on Tuesday.

The forward signed a one-year contract with the Maple Leafs on July 2. He played for London of the Ontario Hockey League, about two hours from St. Thomas, from 2011-2015.

Conor Timmins had two goals and two assists, and Martin Jones made 13 saves for Toronto.

Jeremy Davies and Henri Jokiharju scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves over two periods before Michael Houser stopped 11 of 13 shots in the third.

Timmins gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:41 of the first period, but Davies tied it 1-1 at 12:38.

Toronto responded with two goals in 1:28 during the second period. Sam Lafferty scored short-handed for a 2-1 lead at 12:38, and Domi made it 3-1 on a breakaway at 14:06.

Jokiharju cut it to 3-2 at 16:42, but Kyle Clifford extended the lead to 4-2 at 2:18 of the third.

Timmins scored on the power play at 19:24 for the 5-2 final.

Canadiens 4, Senators 3: Juraj Slafkovsky scored for the Montreal Canadiens, who spoiled Joonas Korpisalo’s debut with the Ottawa Senators at Bell Centre in Montreal.

Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, gave the Canadiens a 2-0 lead at 13:44 of the first period. He missed the final three months of last season with a lower-body injury.

Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist, and Nick Suzuki had two assists for Montreal. Jake Allen allowed two goals on 12 shots before being replaced midway through the game by Cayden Primeau, who made 17 saves.

Korpisalo, who signed a five-year, $20 million contract ($4 million average annual value) with Ottawa on July 1, played the entire game and allowed four goals on 21 shots. Mathieu Joseph scored twice and was plus-2.

Brandon Gignac gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 6:27 of the first before Slafkovsky made it 2-0 from close range.

The Senators scored three unanswered goals to take the lead in the second period. Dominik Kubalik cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 2:45 before Joseph scored twice (7:12, 14:53) to make it 3-2.

Sean Monahan tied it 3-3 at 5:36 of the third period on a rebound of a shot from Caufield, who then scored on the power play at 11:41 for the 4-3 final.

Hurricanes 4, Panthers 1: The Carolina Hurricanes scored three consecutive goals early in the third period to help coach Rod Brind’Amour to a win against his son, Skyler, and the Florida Panthers at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Skyler, a 24-year-old forward, played his first NHL preseason game after helping Quinnipiac University win the NCAA Division I championship last season. He took the opening face-off and finished with one shot on goal and two penalty minutes in 13:22 of ice time.

“Obviously it was really cool,” Skyler told the Panthers website. “A dream come true to play in this building.”

Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist in his Hurricanes debut, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi had two assists. Antti Raanta made eight saves on nine shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Yaniv Perets, who also played for Quinnipiac last season. Perets made six saves.

Gerry Mayhew scored, and Spencer Knight made 27 saves for the Panthers.

Mayhew’s power-play goal put Florida ahead 1-0 at 13:01 of the first period.

Stefan Noesen tied it 1-1 on the power play at 1:07 of the third, and Ryan Suzuki made it 2-1 at 3:43 with a shot inside the right post from a sharp angle.

Brady Skjei made it 3-1 at 4:16 off a pass from Bunting on the rush. It was Carolina’s third goal in 3:09.

Bunting scored into an empty net at 18:21 for the 4-1 final.

Islanders 2, Flyers 1: Ilya Sorokin stopped nine shots in the first period and all 12 shots faced in his preseason debut for the New York Islanders in their win against the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

Sorokin, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season, was relieved midway through the second period by Kenneth Appleby, who made 17 saves. Simon Holmstrom had a goal and an assist, and Julien Gauthier also scored for the Islanders.

Ryan Poehling scored for the Flyers, who have been outscored 8-1 in two preseason games. Felix Sandstrom stopped five of six shots in the first period, and Samuel Ersson made 12 saves in relief.

Holmstrom gave New York a 1-0 lead at 12:38 of the first off a double deflection in front.

Gauthier, who scored nine goals in 57 games between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators last season, made it 2-0 on the power play at 14:00 of the second.

Poehling scored Philadelphia’s first goal this preseason during a 6-on-5 situation at 17:38 of the third period for the 2-1 final.

Lightning 2, Predators 1 (OT): Tyler Motte scored at 2:58 of overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning the win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Motte won it with a power-play goal after Cody Glass was penalized for tripping Nick Perbix at 1:47.

Maxim Groshev also scored, and Matt Tomkins made 30 saves for Tampa Bay.

Tommy Novak scored, and Ryan O’Reilly played 23:59 in his debut for Nashville. Juuse Saros allowed one goal on 17 shots before being replaced at the start of the third period by Kevin Lankinen, who made 10 saves.

Groshev gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 12:43 of the second period with a power-play goal.

Novak tied it 1-1 on a power play at 4:16 of the third period.

Flames 3, Jets 2 (SO): Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves on 19 shots for the Winnipeg Jets in his first start of the preseason, a shootout loss to the Calgary Flames at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

Dryden Hunt and Connor Zary scored, and Dustin Wolf made 19 saves for the Flames. Andrew Mangiapane scored the only goal of the shootout.

Parker Ford had a goal and an assist, and Oskari Salminen made 13 saves for the Jets after replacing Hellebuyck midway through the second period.

Jansen Harkins gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 7:28 of the first period, but Hunt tied it at 19:38 with the teams at 4-on-4.

Ford made it 2-1 on the power play at 3:20 of the third period before Zary tied it at 12:56 with a wrist shot from the left hash marks.

Oilers 2, Canucks 1, (OT): Connor McDavid scored 55 seconds into overtime for the Edmonton Oilers in a win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

McDavid took a lead pass from defenseman Evan Bouchard and scored on a breakaway against goalie Casey DeSmith.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored, and Stuart Skinner made 21 saves for the Oilers.

Quinn Hughes scored, and DeSmith made 27 saves for the Canucks, who were 1-for-6 on the power play.

Hughes scored during a man-advantage at 10:22 of the second period to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead. His shot from the point hit Bouchard in front and redirected past Skinner.

Nugent-Hopkins tied it 1-1 at 13:54 when he took a pass in front from Leon Draisaitl out of the corner and scored between DeSmith’s pads.

Ducks 4, Sharks 2: Pavel Mintyukov, the No. 10 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, scored for the Anaheim Ducks in their win against the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center in Anaheim.

Lukas Dostal made 45 saves, and Brock McGinn, Brett Leason and Chase De Leo scored for Anaheim.

Justin Bailey and Nathan Todd scored, and Georgi Romanov made 22 saves for San Jose.

Bailey gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 9:36 of the first period.

Minyukov tied it 1-1 at 17:19, and De Leo scored 48 seconds later at 18:07 to put the Ducks ahead 2-1.

Leason made it 3-1 at 8:16 of the second period before McGinn scored 23 seconds into the third to extend the lead to 4-1.

Todd scored at 6:26 for the 4-2 final.

Kings 4, Golden Knights 3 (OT): Akil Thomas had a hat trick, and Tyler Madden scored at 4:30 of overtime for the Los Angeles Kings, who rallied past the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Madden roofed a wrist shot over Adin Hill from the right circle after Thomas tied it with 2:01 left in the third period.

Brandt Clarke had two assists, and J-F Berube made 23 saves for the Kings.

Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist, and Jack Eichel had two assists for the Golden Knights. Hill made 24 saves.

Brendan Brisson gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 7:27 of the first period, and Marchessault scored on the power play to make it 2-0 at 15:49.

Thomas cut it to 2-1 at 15:39 of the second period, but Ben Hutton restored Vegas’ two-goal lead at 17:28 to make it 3-1.

But Thomas scored again at 11:42 of the third to cut it to 3-2, then completed the hat trick at 17:59 to tie it 3-3.