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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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BUFFALO – To break out of their Buffalo funk, the Toronto Maple Leafs needed new life.

Fresh faces Frederik Andersen and Mitch Marner turned in two of their best performances to date on Thursday in the Maple Leafs' 2-1 win over the Sabres. Toronto had lost seven straight in Buffalo – and were 2-17 in their last 19 games across the border – but that was then. Andersen played lights out for the second straight night, stopping 42 of 43 shots, while Marner added the two goals up front.

A rough early-season stretch put Andersen under fire to start his Maple Leafs tenure, but all signs point to the netminder having finally gotten his groove back. He's turned away 86 shots over his last two games and rebounded to a .903 save-percentage.

“[Andersen was] unbelievable. I’m really happy for him,” Tyler Bozak said. “Three games into the year he was getting a hard time already by some people, which I don’t understand. He’s an unbelievable goalie and he stole that one for us tonight.”

Indeed, Andersen was called upon early and often to keep Toronto from falling into an old pattern in the Sabres’ barn. He faced down 15 shots in the first period alone. Marner got the Maple Leafs on the board in that frame with his second goal of the season, a back-door snipe off a cross-crease feed from Bozak.

After giving themselves a failing grade for their last two games, a positive play in the first five minutes – with a second assist from linemate James van Riemsdyk – was the shot in the arm that trio needed.

“We were giving up too many chances,” Marner said of his line’s recent stretch. “Tonight we wanted to play sound defensively and we knew if we played hard on defence we’d get our chances offensively. Luckily it happened tonight.”

Early in the second, Marner went back to the well. van Riemsdyk sent a shot from below the red line to feed Marner at the net and the rookie stayed with the puck in the feet of Marcus Foligno until he got it past Robin Lehner’s left pad. Foligno scored moments later to cut the Maple Leafs' lead to 2-1, but from there Andersen closed the door, including on another Foligno chance when a yawning net forced the goaltender to get enough of his arm on it to keep Toronto ahead.

“I think the last few games it’s obvious I feel more confident and more calm out there on the ice,” Andersen said. “It leads to good saves. That’s how you want to play, the calm way. In the beginning you’re trying a little too hard to play well and forcing stuff. You can’t go about it that way. You have to trust yourself and be calm and it’s going a lot better.”

The Maple Leafs let up in the third period, giving the Sabres ample opportunity to tie the game. But between Andersen’s excellent performance and enough plays up the ice, they held a lead in the final frame of regulation for the third time this season. Small victories and learning what leads to success are what the Maple Leafs’ young stars are staying focused on.

“[Both our goals came] off the cycle. Our line was cycling very well tonight, we had chances and luckily two went in,” Marner said. “[Everyone’s] working very hard at practice and games, we’re all coming in and playing hard. Freddie’s playing like a brick house back there. We just want to come in every night and play hard and make sure we’re getting a cycle going.”


Takeaways

  • Toronto's penalty kill went 2-for-2 for the second straight night as that unit continues to rebound. Both kills came in the second period on successive interference penalties. The Maple Leafs have struggled at the face-off dot while shorthanded, but as Andersen has improved, so too has special teams. He’s been the best penalty killer for Toronto the last three games.
  • Auston Matthews’ line with William Nylander and Zach Hyman still hasn’t registered a point in a Maple Leafs’ victory this season, and Matthews has gone five straight games without a point after tallying at least one in four of his first five games.
  • Since getting off to an uncharacteristically shaky start, Morgan Rielly has shown much more confidence in his last two games while paired with Nikita Zaitsev. Rielly was challenging the Sabres in the neutral zone and getting shots through traffic on net to create crucial secondary scoring opportunities off Lehner. He paced all Maple Leafs skaters in ice-time with 25:15 with four shots on goal and two blocked shots against Buffalo.
  • Three Maple Leafs currently sit in the top-three among rookie goal scorers in the NHL – Matthews (tied for first with six), Nylander (second with four) and Marner (tied for third with three).
  • Martin Marincin had a rough game against Buffalo, particularly in the second period. On Foligno’s goal, Marincin turned the puck over behind Andersen’s net and tried to chase up the play, leaving his partner Connor Carrick alone to defend in front. On a penalty kill later in the frame, Marincin twice failed to clear the zone and allowed the Sabres to continue buzzing around the rock-solid Andersen. While usually paired with Rielly, who is excelling now with Zaitsev, Marincin has yet to find a partner that he has clicked with this season. He finished the night with a 17.6 Corsi per cent in 5-on-5 play.
  • After working well as a unit with the addition of Nikita Soshnikov on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs’ fourth line struggled on Thursday. Soshnikov, Matt Martin and Ben Smith looked on their heels for much of the night, coming off a performance where they generated quality offensive chances (and a goal for Smith) against Edmonton. Early in the third period they were hemmed deep in their own zone while the Sabres peppered Andersen with shots.