Stars und Sternchen! » Nilsson run himself out of position

BUFFALO Adidas Tom Kuhnhackl Jersey , N.Y. (AP) — Having already missed 14 games with a shoulder injury, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews wasn’t going to let a little fatigue prevent him from jumping into the play for one last rush.Rather than go to the bench with Kasperi Kapanen flying up the left wing, Matthews drove down the middle, received his teammate’s pass and snapped a shot over Buffalo Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark’s left shoulder to seal Toronto’s 4-3 win with three seconds on the clock in overtime Tuesday night.“Lucky to get it off with a little bit of time remaining,” said Matthews, who scored twice and added an assist to give him five goals and seven points in three games since returning to the lineup. “I’m starting to feel more and more like myself.”That’s bad news for the rest of the NHL, and good news for the Maple Leafs (20-8), who have won five straight and matched their best start to a season in 84 years. The only other time in took them just 28 games to reach 20 wins was when they opened the 1934-35 season at 20-6-2.“It can only help when you add a player like Auston back in the lineup,” Patrick Marleau said. “He’s definitely a game-changer.”Marleau scored with 5:13 remaining in regulation to force overtime. Jake Gardiner also scored and Mitchell Marner had an assist to give him 11 in five games. Frederik Andersen stopped 38 shots to win his fourth straight.Jack Eichel scored twice for Buffalo, which dropped to 0-2-2 since equaling the franchise record with a 10-game winning streak. Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen set up two for Buffalo.Ullmark stopped 26 shots.“It’s not easy right now, for sure. It’s pretty disappointing,” Reinhart said. “We’ve got to find a way to get back on the winning side of things and that starts Saturday.”He was referring to Buffalo getting three days off following a stretch of playing four games in six nights, including a 2-1 loss at Nashville on Monday.The Sabres showed plenty of jump in outshooting the Maple Leafs 11-3 midway through the first period. And they showed resolve in the third period, when Eichel scored twice in a 10-minute span to put the Sabres up 3-2 with 7:03 remaining.Buffalo was unable to hold the lead, though Adidas Matt Martin Jersey , as Marleau tied it 1:50 later when Morgan Rielly’s shot from the left point went wide. The puck caromed to Marleau, who came out from behind the net and stuffed it inside the right post.“Obviously, they get the extra point and it’s frustrating, but give us credit,” Eichel said, noting the Maple Leafs were off since a 5-3 win at Minnesota on Saturday. “They’re sitting here waiting for us. It’s not easy. And I thought we brought a lot of compete and effort.”After winning seven one-goal games during their 10-game streak, the Sabres have dropped four straight by one goal.The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have scored four or more in each of their past five games, and 16 times overall this season.Aside from Matthews’ return, they’re also prepared to welcome back forward William Nylander after he and the Maple Leafs finally agreed to a contract Saturday.“Hopefully, he can do what Auston does and jump right in like he hasn’t missed a beat,” Marleau said of Nylander, a two-time 20-goal-scorer.Nylander remained in Toronto where he skated on his own as he continues conditioning. There remains no timetable for when he’ll play his first game.Coach Mike Babcock said the Maple Leafs’ impressive start is a reflection of the team’s talent.“We’ve got good young players and we think we’re going in the right direction,” Babcock said. “Now, we’ve still got to get a lot better to do what we want to do. So 20 wins is great. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.”NOTES: Though the Sabres are drawing larger crowds with each win Adidas Anthony Beauvillier Jersey , that didn’t drown out the “Go, Leafs, Go!” chants from Toronto fans who made the trip across the border. Before the game, Babcock commented on the Sabres’ improvement this season by saying: “Pretty soon, Leaf fans won’t be able to buy tickets here because Buffalo fans will have bought them already.” … Sabres RW Jason Pominville is day to day and missed his second game with an upper-body injury. … Sabres LW Conor Sheary returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday before opening a five-game road trip.Sabres: Off until hosting the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon. LOS ANGELES (AP) Kings coach John Stevens decided to put ”That 70’s Line” on hiatus for a night.Instead, having forwards Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson play with center Adrian Kempe gave Los Angeles‘ chances of making the postseason a much-needed reboot.Toffoli and Pearson scored, Kempe had two assists and the Kings moved back into playoff position with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.Stevens shuffled his lines coming off a 7-2 loss to St. Louis on Saturday, getting the response he was looking for from Los Angeles’ three emerging stars on offense.”I was really happy for the Kempe line tonight,” Stevens said. ”We talked to that line just how much we needed them to play like they did earlier in the year. It could really balance out our attack, and I thought they did tonight.”Jonathan Quick made 35 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who jumped into third place in the Pacific Division with their fifth victory in seven games. Los Angeles is one point ahead of Anaheim in the division standings.Anders Nilsson made 30 saves for the Canucks, who were shut out for the second consecutive game. Vancouver has scored three goals during a four-game losing streak.Toffoli gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 1:57 into the second period with his 22nd of the season. Jake Muzzin made a long pass from deep in the Kings own zone to the red line that sprung Toffoli on a breakaway, which he finished with a wrist shot over a kneeling Nilsson.”Ty on a breakaway there, he’s not going to miss those too often,” Pearson said.Muzzin had an assist for the second straight game, leaving him one short of matching his career high of 31 in the 2015-16 season.Kempe had the secondary assist Adidas Scott Mayfield Jersey , ending his six-game point drought.Kopitar made it 2-0 at 14:54. His centering pass deflected off Troy Stecher’s stick and went fluttering in over Nilsson. It was Kopitar’s first goal during his four-game point streak, to go along with four assists.Derek Forbort and Drew Doughty had assists on Kopitar’s 28th goal.Pearson put the Kings ahead 3-0 with his 13th goal at 10:53 of the third, waiting out Nilsson until the goalie was on his knees and had left an open net. It was Pearson’s third goal in five games following a stretch of 15 without one.Pearson said he wanted to be patient and let Nilsson run himself out of position to make a play. It was also a sequence that reflected the back-to-basics approach the Kings employed after matching their season high in goals allowed against the Blues.”Obviously, the last game wasn’t what we wanted,” Pearson said. ”It’s good to get the win here and in a good way, too. We had a good, solid defensive game, and when we’re that way we create a lot of stuff going the other way.”For the floundering Canucks, who are 4-12-3 in their last 19 games, coach Travis Green hopes his team can try to focus on little victories instead of its disappearing offense. Green pointed to the three power plays created against the Kings after being limited to one opportunity with the man advantage in each of the previous four games.”It’s going to weigh on them,” Green said about the lack of goals. ”Wasn’t too long ago where we were scoring and sprinkling them around a little bit. Again, you play a game, you reset and you get back at it.”NOTES: The Kings are 7-4-1 in the first game of a back-to-back set. … The Canucks are 3-6-0 in the second game of a back-to-back.UP NEXTCanucks: Visit the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.Kings: At the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.—