Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Christian Ehrhoff's goal 38 seconds into overtime lifted the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs that halted the team's five-game losing streak.
Luke Adam tallied late in the second period to draw Buffalo even at 2-2, and Ryan Miller kept it tied by coming up with 10 saves in the third before Ehrhoff got a long wrist shot past James Reimer through traffic early in the extra session.
Matt Moulson also scored for the Sabres, with Ville Leino and Tyler Myers each contributing a pair of assists. Miller finished with 22 saves overall.
"I thought tonight we had a pretty solid night and also scored some goals," said Buffalo forward Drew Stafford. "You're not going to win a lot of games 1-0."
Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin had the goals for Toronto, which fell to 0-1-2 over its last three outings, while Reimer turned aside 26 shots in defeat.
The Sabres were staring at a one-goal deficit heading into the second intermission, but Adam gave the struggling club some momentum heading into the break by one-timing a puck sent into the slot by Zemgus Girgensons into an open right side 1:10 prior to the stoppage.
Both goaltenders were sharp in the third period to bring about overtime, with Reimer helping the Maple Leafs kill off a holding call on Paul Ranger with 1:32 remaining in regulation.
Toronto's James van Riemsdyk had a breakaway with Ranger in the box, but the Sabres' Matt D'Agostini was able to prevent a shot with a diving backcheck with under 30 seconds to go.
"Usually when you're in all alone and you get your legs taken out from under you, you expect something, especially when the calls have been what they were," said van Riemsdyk of the play. "We can't use officiating as an excuse. We've got to find ways to be better."
Ranger's penalty carried over into OT and a mere 10 seconds after it expired, Ehrhoff used the Maple Leafs' Carl Gunnarsson as a screen and fired a drive that made its way through with D'Agostini creating a distraction in front.
"It wasn't a big blast," said Ehrhoff. "It just found a little lane there and put it through Gunnarsson's legs and Reimer didn't see it."
Kessel gave the Leafs the early upper hand by skating up the left side and sneaking a shot through Miller's pads just 2:12 in. Buffalo tied it less than six minutes later while on a power play, with Moulson knocking home a centering feed from Leino with Reimer out of position.
Toronto regained the lead with 9:37 left in the second period. Tyler Smith sent a pass from behind the Buffalo net while falling down to Kulemin, who lifted the puck over Miller's shoulder from in close.
Game Notes
Two of the Sabres' six victories have come against Toronto, which dropped a 3-1 decision at First Niagara Center on Nov. 15 ... D'Agostini was skating in his first game with the Sabres after being acquired off waivers from Pittsburgh on Wednesday ... Buffalo improved to 13-1-1 in its last 15 home games against the Leafs ... Kessel's goal was the 199th of his career.
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