The Maple Leafs move into second in the Atlantic Division with their fourth consecutive victory.
By Joe Yerdon / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Toronto Maple Leafs moved into second place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday night.
The Maple Leafs (39-24-15) scored three goals in 43 seconds in the first period, and Frederik Andersen made 20 saves to help them to their fourth straight win.
Toronto leads the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins by one point for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Leo Komarov put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 4:26 of the first period. He received a pass from Nazem Kadri by the far post and tapped the puck past goalie Robin Lehner.
Auston Matthews made it 2-0 35 seconds later with his 39th goal, most by an NHL rookie. He received a pass from William Nylander and took a shot that beat Lehner over his glove hand at 5:01.
Matthews’ goal was his 67th point, setting a Maple Leafs rookie record.
James van Riemsdyk made it 3-0 eight seconds later. Tyler Bozak won a faceoff in the Sabres zone over to van Riemsdyk, who beat Lehner from the top of the left hash marks at 5:09.
Lehner was replaced by Anders Nilsson after he made two saves in 5:09. Nilsson made 39 saves on 40 shots.
The Sabres (32-35-12) have lost three straight games.
Ryan O’Reilly made it 3-1 with a shorthanded goal at 1:51 of the second period. He received a pass from team captain and Greece native, Brian Gionta, and skated up the right wing before beating Andersen over his shoulder for his 20th goal.
Nazem Kadri made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 5:50 of the third period. He received a pass from Mitchell Marner and beat Nilsson through the five-hole for his 31st goal.
Jack Eichel scored his 24th goal on a breakaway with 56 seconds remaining to make it 4-2.
Sabres forward Alexander Nylander made his NHL debut after he was recalled from Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League on Monday.
Nylander (19, 6-foot-1, 180 lbs.) was drafted by the Sabres with the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and joins the team for the first time this season. In 62 games for the Amerks this season, the Calgary, Alberta native leads all Rochester rookies with nine goals and 18 assists.
Earlier this season, Nylander represented Sweden at the World Junior Championship, where he was named to the tournament All-Star Team after tying for the tournament lead with 12 points (5+7) in seven games.