'He's done the work' | Quinn's career night fuels comeback in Toronto

TORONTO – Dennis Gilbert’s introduction to Jack Quinn came during the 2024-25 season, when Gilbert was in his first stint with the Sabres and Quinn was still finding his rhythm after suffering two major injuries the year prior.

Gilbert – back in Buffalo this season after a year away with Ottawa – sees a different Quinn these days: faster, stronger and abundantly more confident.

“I know he had a couple really good summers,” Gilbert said. “He puts in a lot of work in the summer and behind closed doors. It’s nice to see him finally get rewarded for it.”

It all came together on Thursday. Quinn had two goals and two assists – the last of which set up Owen Power’s overtime winner – to fuel the Sabres’ comeback, 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

Buffalo erased a two-goal deficit for the fourth time this season. It was their second straight third-period comeback, having previously done so in Tuesday’s shootout loss in Montreal.

This time, they left the building with two points thanks in large part to Quinn, who also assisted on Gilbert’s goal to cut into the deficit with 9:55 remaining. Mattias Samuelsson netted the tying goal with 7:44 left to play, then Quinn helped orchestrate a give-and-go with Power to win the game in overtime.

How good was Quinn? Toronto defenseman Troy Stecher seemed to go out of his way to get Quinn off the ice, following the Sabres forward to the bench and initiating a fight late during the second period. Quinn obliged and came away with a Gordie Howe hat trick.

“It’s the best game I’ve seen him play,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “Like, all around. Four points, he had a couple goal posts, scored a couple goals. Had an unbelievable fight – sort of. We’ll give him the Gordie Howe on that one. Barely.”

Ruff also found himself thinking back to 2024-25, when Quinn was still finding his footing in the wake of a ruptured Achilles the year prior. Ruff scratched Quinn midway through that season to allow the forward to focus solely on getting into the gym and rebuilding his strength.

“He didn’t look for an excuse,” Ruff said. “He said, ‘I’m gonna do the work.’ And I think since then he’s done the work and he’s getting paid dividends for it.”

After scoring a career-high 20 goals and 51 points last season, Quinn has ascended to another level through eight games in 2026-27. He entered Thursday ranked second on the Sabres to Tage Thompson in scoring chances (13). 

He made good on those chances against Toronto. After the Sabres fell into an early 1-0 hole, Quinn went to the slot and buried a feed from Zach Benson to even the score. When the Maple Leafs pulled ahead 2-1, it was Quinn who answered again with yet another goal from between the circles.

Quinn nearly had a third answer in the minutes after Toronto went ahead 3-2, but he sent a shot off the crossbar (then, in the same shift, set up a dangerous one-timer for Samuelsson, who was turned away by goalie Sergei Bobrovsky).

In the third period, Quinn escaped pressure down low and carried the puck up the offensive-zone wall before finding Gilbert at the point to ignite Buffalo’s comeback.

“I’m a better player than last year, put a lot of work in the summer,” Quinn said. “Worked on a lot of things to be more confident, be a better skater, be able to hold onto pucks longer. I think it’s paying off. It’s giving me more time with pucks and more looks.”

And while Gilbert joked that he didn’t have a Quinn fight on his bingo card, that too was a sign of his renewed confidence – the same feisty energy Quinn showed during his Rochester days, when he was a top AHL goal scorer. The Sabres, down 4-2 at the time of Quinn’s brief bout with Stecher, rallied around the moment.

“I think there’s moments inside a season, inside a game, that you’ve got to use to help build energy and build the camaraderie of the team,” Ruff said. “And I thought that was a moment for it.”

Here’s more from the win.

The comeback Sabres

They don’t want to make it a habit, but the Sabres have shown they have both the ability and wherewithal to come back in games.

As was the case Tuesday in Montreal, the Sabres didn’t like their game through 40 minutes on Thursday. Turnovers and lapses in coverage led to four goals against – three by Toronto’s offseason forward acquisition, Kirill Marchenko.

“I don’t think anyone was really happy with the first two periods,” Samuelsson said. “I think we were just kind of getting outplayed everywhere. Obviously don’t want to put ourselves in those situations down like that. There’s a lot of belief that we can score and come back in games.”

Buffalo responded by outshooting Toronto 11-4 in the third period en route to tying the game.

“We don’t like playing from behind but obviously we’ve fought our way back, clawed our way back into games and down by a couple goals,” Ruff said. “We’ve got to fix the start, obviously.”

Defense contributes in Dahlin’s absence

The Sabres were without captain Rasmus Dahlin for the second straight game. Dahlin has not been ruled out for Saturday’s road tripe finale in Montreal, with Ruff describing his status for that game as “fifty-fifty.”

In the meantime, the Sabres defense corps has managed to chip in offensively without their all-world captain. Olen Zellweger scored twice in Montreal, then Gilbert, Samuelsson and Power engineered the comeback in Toronto.

Gilbert, a Buffalo native, scored his first goal in a Sabres uniform (he played 25 games without a goal during his first stint with the team in 2024-25). It was a simple puck-to-the-net approach, with his point shot beating Bobrovsky while Zach Benson set a screen.

Samuelsson’s goal, meanwhile, looked like many of the highlights from his offensive breakout last season. Samuelsson initiated a breakout in the defensive zone, dished off to Tage Thompson, then picked the top left corner upon getting a return pass.

“Just being here for the last couple games, Zelle played unbelievable both nights and OP’s really coming into a really special player and Sammy’s such a horse for us,” Gilbert said. “It’s good to see. Obviously [Dahlin is] our captain, that’s our leader on and off the ice, we can’t wait to get him back. But it’s nice to see guys step up.”

Kulich misses game; Norris enters concussion protocol

The Sabres were without forward Jiri Kulich, who was a late scratch after morning skate. Ruff said Kulich didn’t feel well and – out of an abundance of caution given Kulich’s history with a blood clot last season – the team sent him back to Buffalo for testing, which was negative.

Josh Norris also left the game following a collision in overtime. He entered concussion protocol, Ruff said postgame.

Up next

The road trip concludes Saturday in Montreal. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.