Peyton Krebs and Vinnie Hinostroza scored a pair of goals each as the Buffalo Sabres won the 6th NHL Heritage Classic with a 6-4 victory over the "home" Toronto Maple Leafs at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, the home of the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The first period featured no goals by either side, and it would only take 40 seconds into the 2nd period for the first puck in the cage, coming from Toronto's Ondrej Kase, his 12th of the season. Buffalo would tie things up less than a minute later, though, as Krebs tallied his first of the game and his 5th of 2021-22. At 2:57, Auston Matthews gave Toronto the lead back with his 45th of the season making it 2-1 Leafs, or, for this occasion, the "Arenas". But once again, Buffalo would tie things up, with Hinostroza's 9th of the season at 10:53 being the catalyst.
The Sabres would subsequently fire off 3 more unanswered goals to seal the Arenas' doors for good, courtesy of Hinostroza's 2nd of the game (10) at 5:16, followed by Krebs' 2nd (6) at 13:49, and Tage Thompson's shorty at (24) 17:35.
Buffalo held statistical advantages in shots only, racking up 38 to Toronto's 36. The two teams were dead even on hits, each logging 30 checks apiece. Toronto, on the other hand, held stat advantages in the faceoff wins and PIM departments with 32-20 and 32-30 gaps.
The Sabres get the next few days off before their next outing, a road trip to Edmonton to face the Oilers on the 17th at 9 PM. For Toronto, they get only 1 day off before their next meeting, a home tilt against the Dallas Stars on the 15th, with puck drop scheduled for 7 PM.
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