Murray makes 25 saves, wins NHL return with Maple Leafs against Sabres

Matt Murray made 24 saves for the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first NHL game since April 2, 2023, a 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday.

It’s his first NHL win since March 23, 2023 (6-2 against the Florida Panthers). Murray did not play in the NHL during the 2023-24 season after undergoing bilateral hip surgery in October 2023, returning late in the season to play three games for Toronto of the American Hockey League in April.

“It was a busy day, a lot of emotions,” Murray said. “I tried to keep them in check for the most part, because obviously there’s a game to play. But I was able to take a moment there in warmups and during the anthem and just kind of look around and appreciate the long journey that it’s been and think of all the people who helped me get here.

“After that, I just tried to immerse myself in the game. And thankfully the team played great in front of me tonight. So super happy to get the win.”

William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and Bobby McMann, Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (21-10-2), who have won five of their past six games.

“I think we’re all so happy for [Murray], for what he’s been through,” Domi said. “Remarkable. The resilience and the ability to stick with it mentally, out of all those days that I’m sure he had a lot to doubt in there, and it’s a long road to recovery. We’re all super proud of him.”

JJ Peterka, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (11-18-4), who have lost 12 straight (0-9-3). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 13 shots before he was replaced by James Reimer (14 saves) in the second period.

“Shooting ourselves in the foot, poor puck management,” Samuelsson said. “To be honest, I don’t think Toronto did anything crazy to beat us. We kind of did it to ourselves. They’re a good team, they have good players. If you feed their transition game, they’re obviously going to capitalize. So, yeah, just shooting ourselves in the foot.”

McMann gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 1:29 of the first period, taking a pass from Domi at the bottom of the right circle on a 3-on-1 and snapping it under Luukkonen’s left arm.

Auston Matthews made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from below the right circle at 6:05.

Robertson slipped a wrist shot five-hole on Luukkonen from the right circle to extend it to 3-0 at 1:53 of the second period.

“All three of them can skate,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said of the line of Robertson, Domi, and McMann, each of whom extended their point streak to three games. “And when there’s a breakdown, they’re going the other way quickly and they did that today on two of the goals. And then another goal, it’s just hounding in the offensive zone, using their speed and their skating and tenacity. That’s what I see out of them right now.”

Peterka cut it to 3-1 at 2:22 when he beat Murray under his left arm from the top of the left circle.

Domi pushed it to 4-1 at 4:27. McMann spun to get a pass around Buffalo defenseman Dennis Gilbert to an oncoming Domi, who beat Luukkonen stick side from the slot, chasing the goalie.

“This isn’t about ‘UPL’,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “Really, let’s be serious. He was exposed to pretty high quality. This is on our group.”

Max Pacioretty’s tap-in from in front off a pass from Nylander made it 5-1 at 10:47.

With the teams playing 4-on-4, Samuelsson roofed a wrist shot into the far side from the left circle to narrow it to 5-2 at 15:56.

Power swept in a loose puck at the side of the net to pull the Sabres within 5-3 at 11:56 of the third period. He appeared to narrow it to 5-4 at 16:36 but the goal was overturned after video review on a Toronto challenge for goaltender interference.

Nylander scored an empty-net goal at 19:40 for the 6-3 final.

“Bad decisions,” Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “I think we were doing good stuff and then we do bad stuff, and then we get scored on. It’s frustrating.”

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