TORONTO -- The Buffalo Sabres routed the Toronto Maple Leafs despite being depleted by injuries and losing a locker room stalwart in a trade.
Jochen Hecht scored twice and had an assist to lead Buffalo to a 6-1 rout of the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, hours after the Sabres made four trades to bolder their injury-plagued lineup.
Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford, Derek Roy and Clarke MacArthur scored for the Eastern Conference-leading Sabres.
Forward Dainius Zubrus highlighted the acquisitions, but didn't make it for the game. Buffalo's Chris Drury missed his second straight game with a concussion.
The Sabres played four rookies with fewer than 10 games of NHL experience.
"It's unbelievable. Who would have thought that with that many guys out right now that we got that many goals," Hecht said. "We got great depth in our system and we see it now."
Hecht and others said they'll miss backup goalie Martin Biron, who was traded Philadelphia for a second-round draft pick.
"We're sad to see Marty go today but everyone expected it," Hecht said. "The trades didn't give us a lift today, but once Dainius gets here we'll be a better team."
Starting goalie Ryan Miller also paid tribute to Biron.
"It makes sense that the locker room wouldn't be disrupted with Marty leaving because it's how he kept it. He brought the locker room together," Miller said. "We all learned a lot from Marty and how to handle yourself. He was always positive. We're kind of talking about the guy like he's died."
Alex Ponikarvosky scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost four of five. Toronto -- 10th in the East -- made one trade -- acquiring veteran forward Yanic Perreault.
Fans booed the Maple Leafs at the end of the second quarter and at the final horn.
Toronto lost despite outshooting Buffalo.
"We got out butts kicked tonight," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "We got beat 6-1. That's why we got booed tonight."
Backup Jean-Sebastien Aubin replaced starter Andrew Raycroft in goal after Raycroft allowed four goals on just 11 shots.
Raycroft was unable to make a glove save on Hecht's weak wrist shot, giving Buffalo a 4-1 lead a 18:28 of the second. Raycroft has struggled to make glove saves and the latest goal ended any chance of a Toronto comeback.
Pominville put a rebound past Raycroft to give Buffalo a 1-0 at 14:02 of the first.
Stafford skated from behind the net and put a wraparound past Raycroft at 4:55 of the second. Roy made it 3-0 with quick shot at 11:59 of second.
Ponikarovsky's one-timer cut it to 3-1 at 15:48 of the second, but Hecht regained the three-goal lead less than three minutes later.
Hecht's skated in alone from the faceoff circle before making 5-1 at 5:21 of the third.
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| Jason Pominville is able to push a rebound past Andrew Raycroft for Buffalo's first goal. (Getty Images) |
| Scoreboard | |||||
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Buffalo (42-16-5) « | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
| Toronto (30-25-9) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Three Stars | ||
| J. Hecht BUF Goals: 2 Assist(s): 1 | R. Miller BUF Saves: 27 Save Pct.: .964 | C. Macarthur BUF Goals: 1 Assist(s): 2 |
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| Scoring Summary | ||
| 1ST PERIOD | ||
| 14:02 | Jason Pominville (26), Tip-In - Assists: Clarke Macarthur, Derek Roy | |
| 2ND PERIOD | ||
| 04:55 | Drew Stafford (4), Wrap Shot - Assists: Thomas Vanek, Jochen Hecht | |
| 11:59 | Derek Roy (12), Slap Shot - Assists: Dmitri Kalinin, Thomas Vanek | |
| 15:48 | Alexei Ponikarovsky (17), Wrist Shot - Assists: John Pohl, Ian White | |
| 18:28 | Jochen Hecht (15), Wrist Shot - Assists: Toni Lydman, Clarke Macarthur | |
| 3RD PERIOD | ||
| 05:21 | Power Play - Jochen Hecht (16), Slap Shot - Assist: Nathan Paetsch | |
| 13:49 | Clarke Macarthur (2), Backhand Shot - Assists: Adam Mair, Patrick Kaleta | |
| Penalty Summary | ||
| 1ST PERIOD | ||
| 01:34 | Campbell: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 03:35 | Vanek: Tripping - 2 min. | |
| 06:26 | Gill: Roughing - 2 min. | |
| 06:26 | Peters: Roughing - 2 min. | |
| 07:42 | Colaiacovo: Holding - 2 min. | |
| 09:35 | Stafford: Interference - 2 min. | |
| 16:02 | Ponikarovsky: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 2ND PERIOD | ||
| None | ||
| 3RD PERIOD | ||
| 04:34 | White: Tripping - 2 min. | |
| 14:32 | Lydman: Elbowing - 2 min. | |
| 16:45 | O'Neill: Elbowing - 2 min. | |
| 17:03 | Green: Tripping - 2 min. | |
| SHOTS ON GOAL | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | ||
| Buffalo | 6 | 5 | 17 | 28 | |
| Toronto | 8 | 16 | 4 | 28 | |
| Goalies | ||||||
| Goalie | MINS | S | GA | |||
| Ryan Miller | 59:58 | 27 | 1 | |||
| Jean-Sebastien Aubin | 20:00 | 15 | 2 | |||
| Andrew Raycroft | 40:00 | 7 | 4 | |||
| Game Information |
| Attendance - 19588 |
| Referees - Greg Kimmerly, Dan Marouelli |
| Linesmen - Lonnie Cameron, Scott Driscoll |
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