Eichel Shines: Leafs fall to Sabres 5-2

In a season where Auston Matthews has been the most talked about American-born young gun in the NHL, Jack Eichel reminded the league that he is one of the games most dynamic young players by netting a pair of goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

At the start of the 2nd it was confirmed Frederik Andersen had left the game with an injury sustained off of a collision in the 1st period. Curtis McElhinney would start the remainder of the game for the Leafs. Shortly after in the 2nd period, with Buffalo up 2-1, #34 Auston Matthews scored his 34th goal of the season, and early in the 2nd the score was knotted up 2-2. The Sabres did not take to playing tied very well throughout the night, and for the second time of the night, Buffalo regained the lead within 30 seconds of the Leafs tying it as while Matt Martin was serving a 2-minute minor for interference, Jack Eichel would score and make the score 3-2 for the Sabres. Unfortunately for the Leafs, this was the closest they'd get for the rest of the night.

Still within the first five minutes of the frame while Jake Gardiner was seated in the box two minutes for interference, Dmitry Kulikov would let a point shot rip off of a pass from Jack Eichel, and the Sabres then led 4-2. The Sabres were not done yet in the 2nd period as Jack Eichel would rip his second goal past Curtis McElhinney and the Sabres now sat on top by a score of 5-2.

The third period saw the Sabres sitting back on their lead and playing a much more defensive style of hockey. Toronto failed to cut into Buffalo's lead and the Sabres would spoil the Leafs 3-game winning streak by walking away 5-2 victors at home.

Tonight Jack Eichel who spent a large portion of the 2016-2017 on the sideline due to injury has put together an impressive stretch since he has returned. His dazzling performance tonight adds to his impressive stat line of 53 points in 54 games. Eichel has been near a point a game player for the Sabres this season, something that he and the Sabres will be looking to build upon heading into next year.

The big story for the Toronto Maple Leafs from tonight's matchup is the injury sustained to Frederik Andersen. All that has been reported at the time of this post is that it is an Upper Body Injury. A long-term injury to Frederik Andersen could put a serious damper on the Leafs playoff push. While Curtis McElhinney has proven to be a solid backup, he is just that, a solid backup. McElhinney is not a starting goaltender built to solely carry the load. For the sake of the Leafs, the hope is the injury to Andersen is not too serious.

After Saturday night's action, the Maple Leafs now currently sit only one-point up on the Boston Bruins after they defeated the Islanders 2-1. They do however remain three points behind the Ottawa Senators after they lost 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens. As of now the Leafs are still in good playoff position, but there is still lots of hockey to play before the post-season commences.

*** Next Toronto Maple Leafs game

vs. Florida Panthers, Tuesday, March 28, 2017 (7:30PM)