The Toronto Maple Leafs split their home-and-home with the Buffalo Sabres after picking up a 4-3 overtime win at home.

John Tavares was the hero after the Maple Leafs survived some high-danger chances off of the opening draw in overtime. He picked up the puck on a breakaway and beat Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen clean to get the Maple Leafs back into the win column for the first time since their 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on October 16.

While Tavares was the hero tonight, the Leafs don’t win this game without their depth players stepping up the way they did. It was a necessary contribution after what’s been a very top-heavy start to the season for the Maple Leafs’ offence. Nick Robertson continued his trend of scoring a goal immediately after being scratched, opening the scoring off a slick feed from prospect Easton Cowan, who picked up his second career assist on the play.

Matias Maccelli scored his second goal of the season to give the Leafs a lead in the second period, following an impressive effort to drive the net from John Tavares which left Maccelli with a wide open net to complete the tap-in. While the Sabres did claw back and take a 3-2 lead at one point, Dakota Joshua scored his second goal in as many games to tie things up at 3, leading to the overtime winner.

Cayden Primeau was solid in net for the Maple Leafs, and it might be his last start for a while given that Joseph Woll is back with the team after missing the first few weeks of the season due to an undisclosed issue. Although Primeau’s .885 save percentage won’t look great on paper, he made crucial saves for the Leafs when the team needed it the most and it paid off for them in the end.

The Maple Leafs will look to keep the vibes up on Tuesday night when they host the Calgary Flames, with a 6:00pm start thanks to the Toronto Blue Jays’ ongoing quest for a World Series.