(Hamilton) Vinnie Hinostroza scored two goals and added an assist as the Buffalo Sabers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Sunday in the Heritage Classic at Tim Stadium Hortons of Hamilton.
Posted at 8:14 p.m.
Peyton Krebs helped the Sabers win (20-32-8) with two goals, while Craig Anderson stopped 36 shots. Tage Thompson completed the scoring in an empty net.
On the Toronto side, Auston Matthews added a goal to his record to bring his total to 45, leading the NHL scorers. Ondrej Kase added another for the Leafs (37-17-5). Under heavy fire, Petr Mrazek fended off 31 pucks in the gusts of wind.
Hinostroza broke the tie 2-2 at 5:16 in the third period with a shot from a tight angle that Mrazek would certainly like to see again.
Then Krebs made it 4-2 with 6:11 left in the game when the puck slowly made its way into the net after Mrazek himself moved his net on a weird play that was confirmed. after the video replay.
Thompson completed the job for the Sabers by scoring in the abandoned net shorthanded.
Fans gathered at the Hamilton Tiger-Cats stadium, located about 70 kilometers from Toronto and 100 kilometers from Buffalo. For the event, the temperature felt to be around -7 degrees Celsius.
Members of the ice maintenance staff had to shovel the snow a few times before the warm-up period. The snow cleared, however, by the time the game got underway, around 4 p.m., much to the delight of the 26,119 fans who filled all available seats.
For the occasion, the Leafs wore dark uniforms in homage to the defunct Toronto Arenas, one of the franchise’s former identities dating back to the period from 1917 to 1919. On the other side, the Sabers wore white uniforms cream.
The Leafs, who were booed by their fans on March 2 in a 5-1 loss to the Sabres, held a 33-point lead in the standings over those same opponents. They had, however, allowed four or more goals in nine of their last 11 games and that streak continues.
Kase opened the scoring at the 40and second of play in the second period by recovering a throwback from William Nylander to beat Anderson.
The Sabers responded 41 seconds later when Hinostroza stole the puck from defenseman Timothy Liljegren before passing it to Krebs who scored his fifth of the season.
The Leafs regained the lead at 2:57 thanks to Matthews on a shot partially controlled by Anderson who however ended his trajectory in the net. It was enough for the crowd to chant “MVP” to boost the candidacy of their favorite for the title of most valuable player.
But the Sabers had not said their last word and they tied the game again midway through the period 10:53 when a pass from Hinostroza in front of the net deflected off defender TJ Brodie to surprise goalkeeper Mrazek.
After having had a very poor outing against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, giving up four goals on 12 shots, Mrazek stood out a few times on Saturday, including in front of Casey Mittelstadt, whom he stole with his mitt. Unfortunately, he poorly protected his close side on the winning goal scored by Hinostroza.