Night and Day For The Maple Leafs In Buffalo

The last time the Maple Leafs made a trip down the Queen Elizabeth Way to take on the Buffalo Sabres, a good start went horribly wrong in the third period when the Maple Leafs were unable to hold onto three separate leads and eventually lost the game with three seconds left in overtime on a Bryan McCabe own goal. In last night’s game, McCabe – in his return to the lineup after a six game layoff recovering from a groin injury – scored another game winner but this time, into the correct net sending the Maple Leafs to their first shutout victory of the season.

Andrew Raycroft was the story for the Maple Leafs when he was given his first start in eight games. Raycroft did not disappoint turning in perhaps the best effort in his tenure with the Maple Leafs stopping all thirty shots he faced en route to his sixth career shutout. If you listened closely, Maple Leaf fans in attendance at the HSBC Centre in Buffalo could be heard pondering, “Who are you and what have you done with the real Raycroft?” Several more performances like this would go a long way toward finally endearing himself to Maple Leaf fans and perhaps reopening the battle for the number one goaltending position with Vesa Toskala.

The Buffalo Sabers gave up the opening goal of the game for the eighth straight time last night and look much different from the high scoring, free wheeling team that the Maple Leafs saw eight times a year ago and in their first trip into Buffalo earlier this season. The Maple Leafs deserve credit though for returning to their stingy defensive ways shown often this season whenever they are on the road in a building not named Scotia Bank Place. They continued their solid work ethic and did not appear tentative in the third period as they attempted to maintain their lead.

Mats Sundin scored what turned out to be the game’s insurance goal when he notched his ninth of the season on a partial breakaway set up by Tomas Kaberle. Late in the third, Matt Stajan highlighted a perfect example of the Maple Leafs’ solid forecheck in this game – an area Stajan excels in – when he forced a Buffalo turnover deep in the Sabre end and found Boyd Deveraux streaking in from the bench who beat Sabre netminder Ryan Miller for his second goal of the season capping a 3-0 victory.

The Maple Leafs return home tonight to take on the New York Rangers in the annual Hockey Hall of Fame Game in advance of Hall of Fame inductions on Monday night.