Alex Tuch scored the decisive goal of a shootout Saturday night and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2.

The Sabres made two of their three shots in the shootout and the Maple Leafs misfired on both attempts.

Owen Power and Jack Quinn scored for the Sabres in regulation. Quinn also scored in the shootout for the Sabres, who have won nine of ten. Alex Lyon stopped 16 shots.

Dakota Joshua and Max Domi scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost nine of ten. Joseph Woll made 31 saves and was the prime reason the game went to overtime.

Power started and finished the sequence that gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period. He lugged the puck out of the Sabres’ zone then moved into the slot to score on Zach Benson’s pass from behind the goal.

Lyon’s first stop of the game came on Wiliam Nylander’s breakaway at 5:15.

Joshua tied the game at 6:09 of the first with a blast from the slot after Buffalo defenseman Luke Schenn failed to clear the puck.

The Sabres continued to be careless with the puck and it allowed the Maple Leafs to generate chances during the middle part of a chippy first period. Toronto played with urgency in their first full game since a knee injury put Auston Matthews out for the season.

Domi, playing in his 800th game, gave Toronto the lead at 0:53 of the second period at the end of a 2-on-1 with William Nylander, who faked a shot from the right circle before passing.

Buffalo scored the tying goal on a power play at 11:21 of the second when Quinn’s shot from the left circle squeezed past Woll’s arm following Noah Ostlund’s no-look backhand pass. Michael Pezzetta was off for slashing. Buffalo had the better of the play for most of the second period but Woll was solid, making 11 saves.

The Sabres were dominant again for large stretches in the third period but failed to break through. Buffalo had a 10-2 edge in shots on goal in the final period.

–Field Level Media

Victor Wembanyama racked up 32 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots in his return to lead the host San Antonio Spurs to a 115-102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday as two of the hottest teams in the NBA clashed.

De’Aaron Fox added 17 points for the Spurs, with Stephon Castle adding 15 points with 10 assists. Keldon Johnson scored 13 points and Luke Kornet contributed 10 for San Antonio.

Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 22 points while Kon Knueppel scored 20, Coby White had 18 off the bench and LaMelo Ball added 17 for the Hornets, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.

The Spurs are 17-2 since the start of February, while the Hornets fell to 8-3 since Feb. 22.

The Spurs led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter and 13 at halftime before heading into the fourth quarter up 91-83. Bridges’ 3-pointer with 9:33 left brought Charlotte to within four before San Antonio reeled off the next 12 points to expand its advantage to 104-88 with 6:05 remaining.

The Hornets were unable to challenge down the stretch, with Wembanyama’s fifth 3-pointer of the game coming with 1:12 remaining to seal the victory and get San Antonio’s back on track after a loss on Thursday to Denver when Wembanyama was out with ankle soreness.

San Antonio used an 18-0 run, capped by two free throws by Barnes, in building an early 28-13 lead. The Hornets missed 13 consecutive shots during the Spurs’ surge before pulling within 31-24 after one quarter.

The Spurs were up 46-28 five minutes into the second quarter and finished the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 59-46 advantage into the break. Wembanyama had 18 points and eight rebounds before halftime for the Spurs while Fox added 10 points. Ball had 11 points for the Hornets in the first half.

Knueppel tried to shoot Charlotte back into the game in the third period, making three 3-pointers as part of his 17 points in the quarter as the Hornets cut San Antonio’s lead to 82-73.

–Field Level Media

Kirill Marchenko scored his 100th career goal and also tallied in the shootout to lift the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

After the first five shootout attempts were unsuccessful, Marchenko made a late move to his backhand and lifted the puck past Dan Vladar. Marchenko is 10 for 15 in his career on shootouts, among the best marks in NHL history.

Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves made 18 saves in regulation and overtime before denying Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny in the shootout. Columbus has recorded a point in nine straight games (5-0-4).

Vladar finished with 27 saves for Philadelphia, which had won six of its last eight contests. Alex Bump scored the lone goal for the Flyers.

Columbus nearly took the lead with about eight minutes left in regulation, as Zach Werenski’s shot was deflected in front by Mason Marchment and went just wide. Marchenko had a good chance with about five minutes left in the third, but Vladar held firm.

Overtime was uneventful with Philadelphia recording the only shot on goal. Marchment had a scoring chance midway through OT, but to no avail. Then in the final minute of overtime, Michkov got a semi-breakaway but lost the puck at the last moment.

Marchenko scored his milestone goal 4:21 into the contest. Following a scramble in front of the net, the puck squirted out to the high slot for Marchenko, whose blast sailed past Vladar for his 25th of the season.

About six minutes later, Bump deflected a shot by Emil Andrae past Greaves. The officials initially missed the goal, but replays confirmed that the puck went into the net and then quickly caromed back out.

The goal was the second for Bump in five games to begin his NHL career.

Shot totals were low overall. After a 13-shot attack by Columbus in the first period, the Blue Jackets managed only 15 shots the rest of the way. The Flyers, meanwhile, managed no more than seven shots in any period.