Auston Matthews scores NHL-leading 54th goal late in OT to lift Maple Leafs past Sabres, 2-1

TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 54th goal at 4:20 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.

Matthews took Mitch Marner's feed from behind the net and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen high to the blocker side.

William Nylander also scored for Toronto and Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves, the best when he gloved Tage Thompson's shot in overtime. The Maple Leafs are 10-2-0 in their last 12 and 36-18-8 overall.

Victor Olofsson scored for Buffalo. Luukkonen stopped 25 shots.

Buffalo failed to get a shot on goal for the first 14:50 on the scoreless first period.

Nylander opened the the scoring at 2:29 of the second period with his 34th. Olofsson tied it at 6:31 of the second.

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Sabres: At Nashville on Thursday night.

Maple Leafs: At Boston on Thursday night.

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