Maple Leafs holding their own with Matthews, Andersen out

BUFFALO --Surrounded by a gaggle of cameras and microphones, Toronto Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk was unaware of the two interlopers who were eavesdropping on his interview inside the visitors dressing room at KeyBank Arena on Thursday.
Peeking through the pack of bodies, Toronto defensemen Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly each wore wry smirks on their face as they listened intently to van Riemsdyk's answers. Finally, van Riemsdyk caught a glimpse of them and tried to keep his composure.

In the end, Gardiner made sure that didn't happen.
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"Five goals in two games! Wow!" Gardiner interrupted, causing van Riemsdyk and the reporters around him to break into laughter.
Truth be told, Gardiner's words likely were being echoed by the thousands of blue-and-white clad fans who made the 90-minute drive south from Toronto to watch the Maple Leafs defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2.

By his own admission, van Riemsdyk has never been on such a torrid scoring streak in the NHL before. For the Maple Leafs, it couldn't come at a better time.
With center Auston Matthews sustaining a shoulder injury in a 4-3 shootout victory against the New York Islanders on Feb. 22, the Maple Leafs have relied on the likes of veterans like van Riemsdyk to pick up the offensive slack. He hasn't disappointed.
On Wednesday night in Toronto, van Riemsdyk, 28, had his third NHL hat trick in a 6-5 shootout win against the Dallas Stars. Twenty-four hours later, he scored two goals and had an assist against Buffalo.
Van Riemsdyk's five goals came in a span of 61:46, a streak that started at 4:53 of the first period against the Stars. That gives him a NHL career-high 31 goals, one more than he had 2013-14, his previous best season.
In financial terms, van Riemsdyk's offensive outbreak couldn't come at a better time. Eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, goal scorers in the prime of their careers always are hot commodities on the open market.

Leading up to the Feb. 26 NHL Trade Deadline, there was plenty of public pressure in Toronto for general manager Lou Lamoriello to trade van Riemsdyk, thereby ensuring the Maple Leafs would receive some sort of return for him. The fear was that he'd be able to walk away in the summer without Toronto getting something back.
Lamoriello viewed the situation differently. Rather than trade for scoring down the stretch, why not just keep your own version of the rent-a-player in van Riemsdyk?
So far, Lamoriello's logic is paying off.
"He has obviously been real hot here since the trade deadline," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I don't know if it's you get to concentrate on hockey and not think about the other things, but he's been good for us. He's obviously got real good hands around the net and [been] an important player for us."
Van Riemsdyk credited the play of linemates Tyler Bozak and Connor Brown for his goal-scoring streak. He can't remember scoring five goals in two games as a professional.
"Probably not in the NHL, no," he said. "I think our line has been playing good for a while now, maybe not getting rewarded with some of the bounces as we'd like, but I've liked a lot about our game. We seem to be playing confidently and finding each other and doing that sort of stuff."
The victory gave the Maple Leafs 91 points, five behind the second-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division and 14 ahead of the Florida Panthers.
The win gave Toronto a 10-6-2 record this season without Matthews in the lineup. They are 4-2-2 since he was injured against the Islanders.
Matthews is close to returning but has yet to take part in a full-contact practice. As such, he is not expected to be in the lineup when the Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN, TVAS, NHL.TV).
Toronto could also be without goaltender Frederik Andersen and forward Leo Komarov.
Andersen suffered an upper-body injury against the Stars in the second period and did not make the trip to Buffalo.
Much like van Riemsdyk has stepped up in the absence of Matthews, so has backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney. One night after getting the win in relief against Dallas, he got his 60th career NHL victory. He is 9-4-1 this season.

"I thought he was solid throughout the whole game," Babcock said. "He's been like that all year. I think Mac feels real good about himself. He knows when he goes in there he's going to play well. He's got himself on a good roll.
"I don't know what the scoop is on Freddie. If Freddie has got to be out a little bit, then he'll go. If Freddie is going to be right back, we'll just go with the same rotation."
Komarov was helped off the ice after colliding with teammate William Nylander in the second period. He was favoring his left leg.
"I think he's going to be fine," Babcock said. "Obviously, a lower-body injury there. I just saw him a second ago walking around, tells me he did good on all the tests. I don't know if that means missing the game or playing the next game."
For the most part, the Maple Leafs have been able to survive injuries to top players. Their victory on Thursday was yet another example of that.
Come playoff time, however, it could be a far different story.