Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 2: James van Riemsdyk scored a pair of first-period goals and Toronto held off visiting Buffalo in the back end of a home-and-home series.

Nikolai Kulemin registered his first goal of the season and Mason Raymond added a late power-play tally to stem a comeback as the the Maple Leafs avenged a 3-1 loss in Buffalo on Friday. James Reimer turned aside 33 shots and defenseman Cody Franson collected a pair of assists to give Toronto only its second win in the last six games.

Defenseman Jamie McBain and Tyler Ennis scored third-period goals just under four minutes apart in a belated rally by the Sabres, who were playing their second game under interim coach Ted Nolan. Jhonas Enroth made 18 saves in his first start since Nov. 7.

The Maple Leafs, who had managed only four goals during their 1-3-1 skid, broke on top when van Riemsdyk deflected Franson's wrist shot from the right point past Enroth. Toronto doubled the lead on an almost identical play, with van Riemsyk tipping Franson's shot home eight seconds into a power play.

Buffalo picked up the pace in the middle period but Toronto notched the only goal when Kulemin blistered a shot past Enroth at 11:49. The Sabres ended the shutout bid 2:15 into the third when McBain ripped a one-timer past Reimer before Ennis buried a shot from the left circle on the power play 3:56 later to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Raymond scored with the man advantage with 64 seconds left to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Van Riemsdyk's two first-period goals continued a season-long pattern for the Sabres, who have been outscored 29-3 in the opening 20 minutes. ... LW Matt Moulson assisted on Ennis' goal to give him nine points in nine games with Buffalo, which had a 29-12 edge in shots over the final two periods. ... The Maple Leafs made a move to bolster their depleted center position by acquiring former first-round pick Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz from Anaheim for D Jesse Blacker and a pair of 2014 draft picks. The move for Holland allowed Toronto to shift van Riemsdyk back to wing from center.