Sabres defeat Maple Leafs in shootout, extend lead in Atlantic

Jack Quinn scored the game-tying goal in the second period and another goal in the shootout for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Quinn started out wide to the right side before cutting to the middle and putting a wrist shot under Joseph Woll’s blocker for the first goal in the shootout.

“I feel like I just have a couple of moves all from kind of the right side and decide when I get in, see what the goalie’s giving me,” said Quinn, who is 8-for-13 in the shootout for his career, including 3-for-4 this season.

Owen Power also scored, and Alex Lyon made 16 saves for the Sabres (41-20-6), who are 9-1-0 in their past 10 games. Alex Tuch also scored, and Lyon made one save and forced another attempt to go wide in the shootout.

The Sabres, who have not lost consecutive games in regulation since Dec. 3-8, extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who lost 4-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

“I think halfway through the second we started playing better. Just really encouraging,” Lyon said. “Obviously, we’ve been on a good run. You lose one in regulation, and those are the games when doubt can creep in. You just have to grind through it. We’re going to get tested so much more throughout the rest of the season. So you just have to stay in the moment. There’s going to be a lot of adversity.”

Dakota Joshua and Max Domi scored for the Maple Leafs (28-27-12), who have lost nine of their past 10 (1-6-3). Woll made 31 saves.

“I thought the team competed hard,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “I mean, this team, Buffalo is playing extremely well. They’re good at home. But I thought we hung in there and got a point. Yeah, there’s things we could do better. I thought our first period was our best period, but we found a way to get a point.”

Noah Ostlund, on the doorstep, turned and sent a no-look backhand pass under Woll’s stick to Quinn in the right circle, where he quickly put it under Woll’s right arm to tie it 2-2 on the power play at 11:21 of the second period.

“Just an all-world pass from him and kind of had an open net there,” Quinn. “But I feel like he’s a pretty crafty player, so kind of always expecting him to find you out there.”

Power gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period. Zach Benson one-handed a pass from behind the net out to the slot, and Power was first to it, putting a wrist shot off the left post.

Joshua tied it 1-1 at 6:09. Nicholas Robertson blocked Luke Schenn’s backhand clearing attempt in the slot and Joshua gathered it then lifted it over Lyon’s glove.

Domi finished off a 2-on-1 with William Nylander 53 seconds into the second period to make it 2-1 Toronto. Nylander drew Lyon toward him before feeding Domi, who had an open net from the left circle.

“He’s unbelievable,” Domi said of Nylander. “I mean, that play, I kind of knew he was trying to outwait them, but to sauce it like that and land on my on my tip. Great play by him.”