The Buffalo Sabres will sleep on Thursday night into Friday morning as winners.
They pulled out a thrilling 5-4 victory in overtime over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The headlines on Friday morning won’t have anything to do with Buffalo’s victory, though.
Instead, they’ll focus on a dramatic night for the Maple Leafs.
John Tavares got injured. Gavin McKenna got benched. Kirill Marchenko even scored a hat trick.
These days, there’s never a dull moment with the Leafs — but in this case, the Sabres were the ones that got to leave the ice smiling.
John Tavares Injury
Tavares was injured during regulation on Thursday night when he collided with Josh Norris. There’s early speculation that he may have hurt his knee badly.
The picture at the top of the article shows the way the pair ended up on the ice.
Tavares stayed down as trainers tended to him before he needed help getting off the surface.
The injury comes not long after Tavares took a positive viewpoint on the season ahead.
“Obviously an offseason that was way too long for us,” Tavares said in late September, “and a lot has happened, a lot has gone on, but a lot of hard work has been put in, and I think everyone’s excited to just get going again and start the long grind.”
Now, it’s not clear if Tavares will play a part going forward.
Gavin McKenna Benching
McKenna didn’t play for most of the third period and then didn’t get a shift in overtime against Buffalo.
The Sabres, meanwhile, came back from 4-2 down to win 5-4 in OT.
Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller explained it after the game, but it seemed to leave a bit of detail or logic out.
“That was my decision… we went for a stretch we had those penalties,” Hiller said via Anna Dua on X. “We wanted to get him out there. He sat for so long and he sits through the intermission. Probably should’ve gotten him out at the start of the third. I’ll talk to him about that.”
McKenna was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, so his lack of shifts was bizarre.
Sabres Headlines
The comeback win for Buffalo is the kind that can spark them going forward.
Jack Quinn was the star with two goals and two assists.
Owen Power scored the game-winner in overtime.
Zach Benson and Noah Ostlund each had two assists.
And while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn’t perfect, he did save 26-of-30 shots — just enough to get the Sabres back in the game.
It certainly was a better night for Buffalo, on the road, than it was for Toronto in their home building.
Sabres Play Odd Role in Maple Leafs’ Tavares Injury, McKenna Benching