Sabres rally to beat Maple Leafs in OT

Last Updated: Monday, October 15, 2007 | 11:25 PM ET

CBC Sports

Ales Kotalik of the Buffalo Sabres was credited with the winning goal in overtime on Monday night, but it was Bryan McCabe of the Toronto Maple Leafs who scored it. 

McCabe inadvertently swept the puck into his own net with four seconds remaining in OT, handing the Sabres a 5-4 victory over the Maple Leafs before a crowd of 18,217 at HSBC Arena.

Andrew Raycroft robs Drew Stafford in Monday's 5-4 Maple Leafs OT loss.
(David Duprey/Associated Press)

With Pavel Kubina serving a tripping penalty, Kotalik's slapshot on the ensuing power play landed in the crease, where McCabe tried to swipe it out of danger, only to whack it off the goalpost and over the goal-line.

"What can you say about luck on my part?" McCabe said. "I tried to clear it.

"It was on me. I certainly didn't mean to put it in the net."

Kotalik was credited with his second goal of the season at 4:56, an unassisted effort that won a game in which Buffalo erased three one-goal deficits.    

"It is the strong mentality of this club," he said. "We have a strong group in here, we never give up, and we believe in each other and work for each other."

"We have that confidence that we can come back in any game," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "These games are interesting and exciting."

Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville each had one goal and one assist as the Sabres (3-2-0) notched their third consecutive win.

Adam Mair and Thomas Vanek rounded out the scoring, with Tim Connolly contributing two assists.

Jocelyn Thibault stopped 21 shots in his debut with the Sabres, who signed the unrestricted free agent to a one-year contract on July 5.

"I thought we played our best hockey once we got down by two goals," Connolly said. "We never gave up."

"We sat back," Maple Leafs head coach Paul Maurice said. "And that is the kiss of death, especially against a team that can wind up like that."

Chad Kilger countered with two goals and one assist for the Maple Leafs (2-3-2).

Nik Antropov provided a goal and an assist, while Simon Gamache had the other goal.

John Pohl had a career-high three assists, but Mats Sundin's points streak ended at six games (three goals, seven assists).

Andrew Raycroft finished with 37 stops, including a jaw-dropping glove save on Drew Stafford midway through the first period.

"It doesn't feel too good right now," Maurice said. "We don't have a lot of confidence in our defensive game right now and it showed."

Gamache gets opening goal

Gamache opened the scoring 15:33 into the contest, sweeping in a pass through the crease from a spinning Pohl.

It was Gamache's second goal of the season.

Antropov put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-0 with his fifth at 5:56 of the second period, chipping a loose puck over Thibault after Chad Kilger redirected Pohl's centring pass off the right goalpost.

Moments later, Hecht whistled a shot behind Raycroft that struck both posts and stayed out.

Hecht later found himself all alone in front of Raycroft, but fired wide of the right post.  

Buffalo was held at bay until the eighth minute of the third period, when Mair scored off a broken 3-on-2 rush and Pominville tallied from the slot 37 seconds later to tie it 2-2.

"We started to play desperate, play physical, and really get pucks to the net," Connolly said.

Toronto regained the lead in 82 seconds, as Antropov flipped a backhand pass through the crease to a hard-charging Kilger for his first.

But Vanek pulled the Sabres even at the 13:06 mark, settling a loose puck and beating Raycroft with a backhand shot to tie it 3-3. 

The Maple Leafs replied in 35 seconds as Darcy Tucker dipsy-doodled into the offensive zone and slid a pass into the slot for Kilger, who deked Thibault for his second goal in a span of 3:26.

But the lead proved shortlived as Hecht capitalized on a turnover by Alex Steen, potting the tying goal off a 3-on-1 break at 16:27. 
 
"We got into a river hockey game," McCabe said. "They are a quick team — we have seen it before."

Toronto has lost in seven of its last nine visits to Buffalo.

With files from the Canadian Press