In spite of some recent success against their Atlantic Division and QEW rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs resorted to form and played inconsistently and at times incompetently in a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday. The Leafs were likely thankful that the normal throngs of their fans did not make the trip and dominate the building’s attendance, as most chose to stay and watch Game 1 of the World Series. Those that did were witness to arguably the club’s worst performance of the season, which is concerning coming on the heels of the 5-2 loss to New Jersey earlier in the week.
The Toronto blueline was severely short-handed with the injury to Chris Tanev and the news that Morgan Rielly would also not be in the lineup.. Their replacements, Philippe Myers and call-up Dakota Mermis, were woefully inept. Myers was caught way out of position and directly responsible for Mattias Samuelsson’s opening goal. The pairing was on the ice for the first two Buffalo goals, and Myers was -3 on the night in just over 14 minutes of ice time.
Stolarz was again not sharp and may be falling victim to fatigue, in his seventh start in eight games, allowing five goals on 30 shots. The big netminder did make a big save late in the third with the Leafs trailing 4-3 to keep them within range, but they may not have been behind at that point had he come up equally as big earlier in the game.
Berube ‘all the eggs in one basket’ strategy worked to a point, as William Nylander scored on a breakaway, and Auston Matthews tied the game on the power play, but the second line with Matthew Knies and John Tavares was largely ineffective. The Leafs did get a goal from the third line, as Dakota Joshua narrowed the lead to 4-3 early in the third, but the Leafs could not score the equalizer on a late power play, surrendering a short-handed goal to Alex Tuch.
Nylander left the game in the third period, after being cross-checked by Sabres winger Jason Zucker, and did not return. After the game, Leafs head coach Craig Berube was non-committal about whether Nylander would be able to play in the second game of the back-to-back, home-and-home on Saturday. He did keep open the possibility that Rielly would play on Saturday, and the injured blueliner did participate in an optional skate on Friday morning.
Backup Cayden Primeau will make his second Leaf start at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday afternoon. If Nylander is unable to go, Nick Robertson will likely be inserted into the lineup.
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The Leafs revealed that goalie Joseph Woll will be returning to the club after taking a personal leave of absence at the start of training camp. It is likely, since Woll missed all of training camp, that the netminder will spend a few weeks with the AHL Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint.
OCTOBER 25, 2025 ▪ 5:00 PM EST ▪ SCOTIABANK ARENA
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050
MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY vs. BUFFALO SABRES
| All-Time Record: | 91-113-18-11 (233 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 54-44-12-5 (115 Games) |
| 2024-25: | 3-0-0 |
| Last Five: | 4-1-0 |
| Last 10: | 6-4-0 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | November 18, 1970 (Toronto 2 vs. Buffalo 7) |
| All-Time Record: | 91-113-18-11 (233 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 54-44-12-5 (115 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 37-69-6-6 (118 Games) |
| Last Home Win vs. Opponent: | December 15, 2024 (Toronto 5 vs. Buffalo 3) |
MAPLE LEAFS / SABRES – 2025-26 TEAM STATS
| TORONTO | BUFFALO | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.38 (11th) | 3.00 (15th-T) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 3.75 (28th) | 2.88 (13th) |
| Power Play %: | 15.0 (26th) | 23.1 (11th) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 81.0 (13th-T) | 93.3 (2nd) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 28.9 (12th) | 29.8 (9th) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 29.1 (19th) | 33.3 (32nd) |
| Faceoff %: | 54.8 (4th) | 42.7 (31st) |
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