The Leafs lost 5-4 in overtime last night to the Buffalo Sabres.

It was a roller coaster of an evening that started great with Auston Matthews scoring a leaping goal from Roslovic.

Followed by a HAT TRICK from Kirill Marchenko, obviously his first as a Leaf and the fifth hat trick of his career.

As the Leafs were riding high on a 4-2 lead, things started to go downhill.

John Tavares was forced to leave the game after a nasty collision involving himself, Nick Paul, and Josh Norris. JT fell in a heap and had to be helped to the locker room. No update from the team as of last night on his status.

As this was happening, head coach Jim Hiller started getting some eyebrows raised in his direction because Gavin McKenna and Zach MacEwan hadn't had a shift since the middle of the second period, and with Tavares out of the game, he essentially handcuffed himself down to only three forward lines with most of the third period to go. McKenna only ended up playing 6 minutes in the game and didn't get a shift for the entire second half.

Jim Hiller on benching Gavin McKenna in the Leafs' OT loss to Buffalo: "We talked about getting him out in the third, and then I guess it just didn’t happen... That’s on me"
After a 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres, head caoch Jim Hiller discussed his team’s struggles under the Sabres’ late push, Gavin McKenna sitting for the second half of the game, Kirill Marchenko’s scoring breakout, and his familiarity with newly acquired Aatu Räty. Hiller on the game getting away from the Leafs after leading […]
Maple Leafs HotstoveMLHS Staff

As the Sabres scored once in the third period to bring the game to 4-3, and then again to tie the game at four, the raised eyebrows turned into straight uproar. The Sabres scoring in overtime sealed it. Postgame, Hiller admitted to dropping the ball in this scenario. I've linked the MLHS postgame article above because it has all the full quotes rather than any sort of snippet a tweet can provide.

In other news, the Leafs traded Jacob Quillan and Brandon Buhr to Vancouver for centre Aatu Raty.

Maple Leafs trade Jacob Quillan for Aatu Räty
A swap of centres.
PPP LeafsCathy Squires

It was officially announced that Dave Hakstol will be taking over the Men's hockey team at Arizona State.

Avalanche assistant Hakstol takes over as Arizona State head coach
Colorado Avalanche assistant Dave Hakstol is leaving the organization to become the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils hockey team, the school announced on Thursday.
TSNTSN.ca Staff
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