John Tavares scored his 499th career goal on a breakaway at 1:28 of overtime. Toronto Maple Leafs made a three-game slide with a 4–3 victory over Buffalo Sabers on Saturday.
Nick Robertson, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua provided the rest of Toronto's (4-4-1) attack. Kayden Primeau made 23 saves in place of the rested Anthony Stolarz. Tavares added an assist and Matthew Nice had two of his own.
Tage Thompson scored twice and Bowen Byram scored once for Buffalo (4-4-1). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 18 shots for the Sabers, who entered the game having won four of their last five.
Thompson and Robertson traded goals in the first period. Maccelli and Byram did the same in the second round before Thompson and Joshua repeated the feat in the third to create OT drama.
The Sabers beat the Leafs 5-3 on Friday in Buffalo and are in a five-game stretch against Toronto.
The Leafs lost star forward William Nylander, who was placed on the game-time decision list with a lower-body injury.
Leafs: No. 1 defenseman Morgan Rielly was also a game-time decision but was healthy enough to play after warmups. Nylander has not competed in 267 regular-season contests for the first time since April 2022.
Sabres: Luukkonen made his first start of the season after missing the first eight games with a lower-body injury. Alex Lyon won Friday.
After the visitors went up 3-2 in the third thanks to Thompson's power-play goal, Joshua equalized seven minutes before regulation.
Tavares is one goal shy of becoming the 49th player in NHL history to score 500 points in his career.
Sabers: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Leafs: Host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
