Toronto’s lead for third place is down to one point after falling 5-2 to Buffalo.
By Joe Yerdon / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Toronto Maple Leafs’ lead for third place in the Atlantic Division is down to one point after they lost to the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
Toronto (35-24-15) had won three in a row. The Boston Bruins trail them by one point after defeating the New York Islanders 2-1. The Maple Leafs have one game in hand.
Jack Eichel scored twice for Buffalo (31-32-12), which is 10 points behind the Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews scored his NHL-rookie-leading 34th goal to make it 2-2 at 2:22 of the second period.
Eichel gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead 25 seconds later with a power-play goal. His shot went past Maple Leafs goalie Curtis McElhinney after a pass from Dmitry Kulikov. McElhinney replaced starter Frederik Andersen (upper body) to start the period.
Eichel helped set up Kulikov’s second goal of the season, also on the power play, that made it 4-2 at 5:59 of the second. Eichel’s second goal, 23rd of the season, made it 5-2 at 13:12 when he beat McElhinney through a screen by Marcus Foligno.
Ryan O’Reilly gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 7:05 of the first period. After a cross-crease pass from Tyler Ennis, O’Reilly tapped the puck past Andersen for his 18th goal.
Connor Brown made it 1-1 at 9:30. He picked up a rebound of a shot by Leo Komarov and shot it past Robin Lehner for his 18th goal. Evander Kane gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead 15 seconds later with his 26th goal.
Lehner made 32 saves, Andersen made 14, and McElhinney made 19.
The Sabres recalled defenseman Brady Austin from the Rochester Americans on Saturday.
Austin (23, 6-foot-4, 230 lbs.) joins the team for the second time this week after making his NHL debut and recording four shots on goal in his first two games with the Sabres on March 20 and 21. The Bobcaygeon, Ontario native has recorded nine points (2+7) and 51 penalty minutes in 62 games for the Amerks this season.