BUFFALO (LGS) — They may have lost Chris Drury and Daniel Briere this past offseason, but the magic is still there for the Buffalo Sabres. This time it just needed a little help from Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe.

The Sabres came back three times in the third period – including an initial two-goal deficit – before demoralizing the Maple Leafs yet again on HSBC Arena ice when the much-maligned Toronto blueliner inadvertently shot a rebound into his own net with less than four seconds left in overtime.

Buffalo stormed out of the gate in the first period but they couldn't find a way to solve Leafs netminder Andrew Raycroft, who faced 42 shots on the night.

Despite controlling much of the play in the opening 20 minutes, Buffalo trailed 1-0 as Simon Gamache's one-timer from the slot gave the Leafs the lead 15:33 into the game.

The Sabres suffered through a frustrating second period in which Toronto would double their lead 5:56 in when Nik Antropov poked home a loose puck over Buffalo's Jocelyn Thibault, who made his first regular season start as a Buffalo Sabre.

It would be Buffalo's fourth line that would finally figure out Raycroft as Adam Mair shoved in a Derek Roy pass 8:12 into the third period. The Sabres and their fans quickly sensed the floodgates about to burst open; much like they did on Saturday night in Buffalo's 7-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.

37 seconds after Mair put the Sabres on the board, Jason Pominville tied the game when he one-timed a Tim Connolly pass from the slot for his third goal of the season.

Just when it appeared Buffalo was going to run away with the game, Chad Kilger scored the first of his two goals when he deflected an Antropov pass through Thibault 10:11 into the final period.

The see-saw battle continued when Thomas Vanek calmly poked home a loose puck less than two minutes later. But before Sabres fans were able to sit back down in their seats, Kilger responded 35 seconds later, putting the Leafs up 4-3.

But Buffalo would not be denied tonight as Jochen Hecht's wristshot on a three-on-one break found its way through Raycroft's armor and into the Toronto net just under three minutes later.

The Sabres had a power play late in regulation when Jaroslav Spacek had his head plastered into the boards by Antropov. Buffalo controlled the man-advantage but failed to score in the dying minutes. With just seconds on the clock, McCabe nearly one-timed the puck into his own net while trying to clear a centering pass just outside the Toronto crease. McCabe wouldn't be so lucky in overtime.

In the extra session, Toronto's Pavel Kubina saved a goal when he tripped up Thomas Vanek, who was staring at an open net after pulling Raycroft well out of position by faking a slapshot.

On the ensuing power play, the Sabres were firing away at the Toronto net but they just couldn't find a way to beat Raycroft. Finally, with less than four seconds left, Ales Kotalik fired a laser to the front of the Toronto net that McCabe inadvertently cleared off the right goal post and into his own net. The goal would later be credited to Paul Gaustad, who deflected the initial Kotalik shot.

"What can you say about luck on my part?" the defenseman said after the game. "I tried to clear it, the goal was on me. I certainly didn't mean to put it in the net."

Buffalo finishes up their four-game homestand on Friday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

LGS GAME NOTES

♦ The Sabres HSBC Arena sellout streak is officially over. After two close calls last week, it took the high prices of a Gold Game on a Monday night to end the Sabres regular season streak at 45 games. The last time the Sabres didn't sell out a game was Wednesday, April 12th, 2006 against the Montreal Canadiens. The attendance that night was 18,201. Tonight's attendance as 18,217, roughly 500 away from full-capacity.

♦ Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters after the game that Jaroslav Spacek suffered a shoulder injury after being slammed into the boards by Toronto's Nik Antropov late in the third period. The extent of the injury is not known at this time.

♦ In case you were wondering, the Toronto Maple Leafs have to be the Buffalo Bills of the NHL. They give their fans false-hope, especially against an elite team like the Sabres, before finding a cruel way to lose a game they seemingly had won.

♦ Michael Ryan was a healthy scratch tonight as Andrew Peters was re-inserted back into the Buffalo lineup. Peters played a whooping 1:43 tonight.

♦ Buffalo now has 24 goals in five games which is second-best in the NHL to Toronto's 26 goals; however, the Maple Leafs have played two more games.

♦ You probably haven't noticed but young Daniel Paille has five points in five games this season for the Sabres. I had to double-check the stats myself. Not bad for a guy averaging around nine minutes a game.

♦ Did you think going to a Sabres-Leafs game was expensive? Usually that's the case but not tonight, scalpers were selling tickets for tonight's game well under face-value. In fact, one could have snagged a pair of $100 tickets for just $20 from multiple "street vendors."