Leafs beat Sabres to keep playoff drive alive
Posted March 12, 2011 10:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Phil Kessel, Mikhail Grabovski and James Reimer helped keep the playoffs within sight for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kessel and Grabovski scored goals less than three minutes apart and Reimer made a jaw-dropping save on Tomas Vanek during the final period Saturday as Toronto rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
It ended a three-game slide for the Leafs and got the team back within four points of the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres and New York Rangers both sit at 74 points while Toronto has 70.
Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Bozak also had goals for Toronto (30-29-10).
Mike Weber, Jochen Hecht and Jordan Leopold replied for the Sabres (33-27-8), who went 4-2-1 during a seven-game road trip.
Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller has owned the Leafs during his NHL career, but had to deal with plenty of traffic and seemed to get a bit rattled.
He dropped his arms in frustration when Kessel beat him with a low shot at 6:36 of the third period — the second of two quick goals that put the Leafs ahead 4-3. Joffrey Lupul charged hard to the net on the play and may have disrupted Miller’s concentration.
Grabovski tied the game 3-3 with a one-timer at 4:03 of the third period to bring Air Canada Centre to life.
There was a heightened atmosphere for Toronto’s biggest game of the season, one a number of Leafs had labelled a must-win.
It didn’t get off to a very good start as Weber opened the scoring less than three minutes in. The defenceman took a wrist shot through traffic that beat Reimer, who never seemed to pick up the puck through traffic.
A goal by MacArthur against his former team evened the score. With Grabovski charging towards the net, he wired a slapshot in off the post at 11:23.
Bozak made it 2-1 Toronto just past the midway point of the game. After failing to beat Miller on a breakaway, he took a pass from Kessel and scored his 11th of the season.
However, the Sabres grabbed back the momentum before the end of the period. Hecht buried a rebound at 11:04 and Leopold beat Reimer with a point shot on a power play at 15:31 to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.
Notes: Toronto’s Tim Brent left the game late in the second period after taking a high stick to the face. … Buffalo is 29-11-1 against the Leafs since the lockout. … Fredrik Sjostrom sat out for Toronto. … The Sabres are nursing plenty of injuries: Derek Roy (knee), Jochen Hecht (upper body), Patrick Kaleta (lower body), Drew Stafford (hamstring), Paul Gaustad (upper body) and Chris Butler (upper body) all sat out. … Announced attendance was 19,347.
