Buffalo beat Toronto 5-4 in overtime on Thursday, October 15 at Scotiabank Arena, with Owen Power scoring the winner at 3:14 of overtime.
Kirill Marchenko scored a hat trick for Toronto in his 300th NHL game, and the Maple Leafs still lost after leading 4-2 through two periods.
Power Finishes A Buffalo Comeback
Owen Power scored the winner at 3:14 of overtime on a saucer pass from Jack Quinn, completing a Buffalo rally from a two goal third period deficit. Toronto led 4-2 after two periods, in a game that broke down by periods as 2-1 Toronto in the first and another 2-1 Toronto edge in the second, before Buffalo took the third and then the extra period. For the Sabres, the win improved their record to 4-3-1 and continued a pattern their players clearly believe in, which is that a two goal deficit in the third period is a problem they have solved before and can solve again.
“We’ve done it before. We did it a lot last year, coming from behind, so I think the more you’re able to do it, the more confident you get.” Owen Power, Buffalo Sabres, published by NHL.com
Quinn was the engine behind the finish. He finished with two goals and two assists for Buffalo, directly involved in four of its five goals, and his pass to Power in overtime was the best play of the extra period. Mattias Samuelsson added a goal and an assist, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves. Buffalo did not steal this game with one lucky bounce. It built the comeback across the third period, tied it, and then had its two young stars connect for the winner in overtime.
Marchenko Hat Trick In A Losing Cause
The Toronto story is Marchenko, even in defeat. He scored a hat trick in his 300th NHL game, a milestone night that should have been the headline of a home win. Marchenko arrived on September 28 in the six player deal that sent Matthew Knies to Columbus, a trade that asked a lot of the player coming back to Toronto. A hat trick at Scotiabank Arena, in a rivalry game against Buffalo, is the kind of night that settles a new player into a market quickly. Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto and John Tavares added two assists, so the Leafs did not lose for lack of top end production.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for Toronto, which fell to 3-3-2. The concern is the shape of the loss rather than any one player. Toronto led by two goals with a period to play at home, had a hat trick from Marchenko and a goal from Matthews, and still gave the game away in the third and overtime. That is a defensive and game management problem, not a scoring problem. Earlier in the launch window, Toronto won in Denver behind five points from William Nylander, showing what this team looks like when it closes. Thursday showed the opposite version.
The QEW rivalry always carries extra weight in Toronto, and Buffalo winning it in overtime will travel well back across the border. For a Sabres angle against another Canadian opponent, see Buffalo meeting with Montreal in this launch window, another overtime game in this division. On Thursday, though, the extra point belonged to Buffalo. Toronto had the two goal lead and the hat trick, and the Sabres still left Scotiabank Arena with the win.
What Toronto Has To Fix
Three details will bother Toronto most on review. First, a 4-2 lead after two periods at home should be a win for a team with Bobrovsky in goal and Matthews and Tavares protecting a lead. Second, Quinn being involved in four Buffalo goals means Toronto never found a matchup answer for the Sabres most dangerous player on the night. Third, the overtime winner came from a defenceman, Power, joining the play and finishing a pass, which means Toronto lost track of the trailer in the extra period. None of those are talent problems. All three are attention problems, and attention problems in one goal games become standings problems very quickly in the Atlantic Division.
For Buffalo, the lesson runs the other way. A young team that believes it can come back is a dangerous team in the third period, and belief like that is built in games exactly like this one. Power scoring the winner, Quinn driving the offence and Luukkonen making 26 saves to keep the deficit at two all feed the same confidence Power described after the game. Buffalo will not rally from two goals down every week, but opponents now know it can, and that knowledge changes how a third period feels for the team trying to protect a lead against the Sabres.
By The Numbers
- Final score: Buffalo Sabres 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 4 in overtime, October 15
- Owen Power: overtime winner at 3:14, on a pass from Jack Quinn
- Jack Quinn: two goals and two assists for Buffalo
- Kirill Marchenko: hat trick for Toronto in his 300th NHL game
- Goaltending: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 26 saves, Sergei Bobrovsky 29 saves
- Records after the game: Buffalo 4-3-1, Toronto 3-3-2
Toronto will remember this as the Marchenko game that got away. A hat trick in a milestone game, a two goal lead after forty minutes and a home crowd ready to celebrate should add up to two points. Instead Buffalo scored the last three goals of the night and Power ended it in overtime. October losses like this one do not define a season, but they do get filed away, and in a tight division the point Toronto left on the ice Thursday may matter more in April than it feels like it does now.
