TORONTO – James van Riemsdyk kept the Buffalo Sabres reeling on Thursday night.
Van Riemsdyk scored twice to power the Toronto Maple Leafs past the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 in Ron Rolston’s first game as an NHL head coach.
Rolston, who until Wednesday was the head coach of the AHL’s Rochester Americans, was hired as the Sabres interim coach following the club’s decision to fire Lindy Ruff. Ruff, who also played 10 seasons for Buffalo, had been behind the club’s bench since 1997 and was the NHL’s longest-tenured head coach.
Prior to arriving in Rochester, Rolston spent seven seasons as a head coach with USA Hockey’s national program, leading the Under-18 squad to three gold medals and a silver in four world championship appearances.
Van Riemsdyk played for Rolston for two years, earning a world championship gold medal in 2006 before getting silver the following year.
“He’s a big reason for the success I’ve been able to have as a hockey player,” van Riemsdyk said. “He really kind of instilled that confidence and trust that he had in me as a player and he put me out there in pretty much every situation in every game and allowed me to grow.
“There was obviously some growing pains my first year, but the second year I was able to blossom under his tutelage and I feel thankful for everything he taught me.”
But Rolston could only watch as the Sabres dropped their third straight and fifth of their past six games.
“I thought we played well in parts of the game,” Rolston said. “I didn’t like our second period, obviously it was the turning point.
“We had too many turnovers, we were forcing things, long shifts in the defensive zone. It was the difference.”
Toronto erased a 1-0, first-period deficit with two goals in the second.
“The second period wasn’t good enough,” said Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller, who turned aside 33 shots. “We stopped doing some things we did early in the game and it caught up with us.”
Van Riemsdyk’s power-play goal at 14:28 of the third — his team-leading 11th — gave the Leafs breathing room after Miller stopped him with a glove save earlier on the power play.
Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said van Riemsdyk’s work away from the puck was a big reason for his success.
“He probably skated as strong in this hockey game as any game he has this year,” Carlyle said. “It’s good to see him move his feet and be rewarded.”
Devils 3, Capitals 2
In Washington, Ilya Kovalchuk scored the tiebreaking goal on a 5-on-3 power play with about 8½ minutes left to complete New Jersey’s comeback victory over the Capitals.
Panthers 5, Flyers 2
In Philadelphia, Jonathan Huberdeau and Peter Mueller each had two goals to help Florida snap a five-game losing streak with a victory over the hosts.
Tomas Kopecky also scored for the Panthers, who were 0-2-3 since a 3-2 shootout victory in Philadelphia on Feb. 7.
Bruins 4, Lightning 2
In Tampa, Nathan Horton scored two goals, and Boston beat the Lightning.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins, who improved to 6-1-1 on the road.
Senators 3, Rangers 2 (SO)
In Ottawa, Kaspars Daugavins scored in the seventh round of the shootout and backup goalie Ben Bishop earned the victory in relief of injured starter Craig Anderson (right ankle) as the Senators beat New York.
Blue Jackets 3, Red Wings 2
In Detroit, Vinny Prospal scored with 24.7 seconds left, capping a comeback that lifted Columbus over the Red Wings.
Islanders 4, Canadiens 3 (OT)
In Montreal, rookie defenseman Thomas Hickey scored in overtime for his first NHL goal, and New York rallied to snap the Habs’ five-game winning streak.
Matt Moulson scored twice and Frans Nielsen added a goal in the third period for the Islanders (7-9-1), who trailed 2-0 and 3-1 but came back to end a two-game slide and win for the third time in 10 games.
Max Pacioretty had two goals, and Travis Moen added one for the Canadiens (11-5-2).
Jets 4, Hurricanes 3
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Blake Wheeler scored his second goal of the game with 4:54 remaining to lift Winnipeg over Carolina.
Canucks 4, Stars 3
In Dallas, Jason Garrison and Henrik Sedin scored third-period goals to help lead Vancouver past the Stars
Wild 3, Oilers 1
In Edmonton, Matt Cullen had two goals and an assist to lift Minnesota over the Oilers.
Devin Setoguchi also scored for Minnesota (8-6-2), which has won two straight.
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