|
 Left winger Joffrey Lupul scored the only goal of the shootout — the Maple Leafs' fourth consecutive game decided that way — in a
4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
The Maple Leafs split those four games.
"I think the stress level goes up in games like this," Carlyle said.
"It's not easy winning in the NHL. It proves it night in and night
out, there's a lot of shootouts taking place. Do we like shootouts?
No."
After falling behind 2-0 after the first period, the Maple Leafs
scored three goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. But the
Sabres tied it up with 24.1 seconds left in the third period on
center Steve Ott's fifth goal of the season that came on a power
play.
"I thought we started out real well," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.
"The second period shows you how you get yourself in trouble, of you
turn the puck over and we turned it over a number of times. What we
deserved tonight is what we got."
The goal that forced overtime came after a scramble around the net
with Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller removed for an extra attacker and
Maple Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf off for hooking.
But Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier held firm in the
shootout to make Lupul's goal stand up.
"It's getting a little crazy here," said Maple Leafs center Peter
Holland who scored a goal in regulation. "It would be nice if we
could just close one out in regulation and save ourselves the
heartache but when a shootout goes your way it's a great feeling
because you got the two points."
Right winger Phil Kessel and defenseman Jake Gardiner also scored in
regulation for the Maple Leafs (19-16-5).
Left wingers Matt Moulson and John Scott scored for the Sabres
(10-24-4).
Bernier made 32 saves in regulation for Toronto while Miller made
stopped 37 shots.
"When you have a 2-0 lead in this league, you can't just expect to
win," Moulson said. "It's hard work for 60 minutes no matter how
much you're up. We hopefully learned from that and will not let that
happen again."
"The positive thing is we found a way to regroup and get ourselves
back on track," Carlyle said. Gardiner started the Maple Leafs three-goal second with his
second goal of the season, a slap shot from the blue line at
11:38 of the second period. Holland tied it at 16:25 on a pass
from left winger Mason Raymond who picked up the puck after
defenseman Jamie McBain failed to control a dump in by Maple
Leafs defenseman Cody Franson, who had two assists on the game.
[to top of second column] |
"We had some hiccups in the first," Franson said. "The second I
thought was really good. We've still got to iron out the kinks
in closing out a lead."
The lead the Maple Leafs could not hold was provided by Kessel,
who converted a pass from left winger James van Riemsdyk on a
power play for his 18th goal of the season at 19:43 of the
second — 27 seconds after Scott was sent off for high-sticking.
Buffalo struck for goals 52 seconds apart in the first period
and emerged with a 2-0 lead.
Center Zemgus Girgensons did the work on the first goal,
fighting off Holland all the way. Girgensons took the puck
behind the net from the right corner. After working it out to
the left of the goal, he took a backhand shot while falling.
Moulson batted in the rebound at 7:01 for his 13th goal of the
season.
Scott picked up his first goal in 164 games by burying a wrist
shot at 7:53 after Bernier allowed a big rebound on a flip shot
from outside the blue line by left winger Matt Ellis. Ellis took
a swipe at his own rebound but missed before Scott connected. It
was Scott's 200th NHL game. His only other NHL goal came Nov.
15, 2009, against Carolina when he was with Minnesota.
"Our first period I thought we played a real smart game, we kept
getting pucks in deep, beating them to pucks," Ott said. "Then
the second period was our worst period we've played in such a
long time. Countless turnovers. I liked our third period again.
Turned into a good hockey game, was right there for a win."
NOTES: Maple Leafs C Tyler Bozak (strained oblique) who has
missed the 12 consecutive games said he expects to be in the
lineup for the game Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. He
has played only 16 games this season, also missing 12 games with
a hamstring injury. ... C Dave Bolland (ankle) and C Trevor
Smith (hand) remained on injured reserve for the Maple Leafs.
...Sabres C Cody Hodgson (wrist) was out for the third straight
game but LW Ville Leino, LW Marcus Foligno and LW Linus Omark
returned to the lineup after missing the win Monday over Phoenix
because of illness. ... C Cody McCormick (upper body) and C
Kevin Porter (lower body) remained on injured reserve for the
Sabres. ... The Sabres will return home Sunday to play the
Washington Capitals.
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
