John Tavares and Auston Matthews each had a goal and assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs won for just the second time in six games, beating the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Mitchell Marner and Zach Hyman, into an empty net, also scored and the Maple Leafs inched to within four points of the idle Boston Bruins in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division standings. Garret Sparks stopped 22 shots for Toronto, which was playing on consecutive nights after a 3-0 loss at Nashville.
Last year, Buffalo became the NHL's first team to finish 31st following the addition of expansion Vegas Golden Knights. This year, the Sabres have unraveled over the past four months and are in jeopardy of becoming the league's second team to miss the playoffs in a season in which they won 10 straight games.
Tavares then set up Marner's goal 22 seconds into the third period with a no-look backhand pass from the left boards. Marner was untouched in driving to the slot, where he snapped a shot under goalie Carter Hutton's blocker.Buffalo's Nylander -- younger brother of Toronto's Alexander Nylander -- cut Toronto's lead to 3-2 with 14:23 left when he one-timed in Vladimir Sobotka's centring pass into the slot.
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