Marner extends point streak to 12 games, reunites with Matthews in Leafs win

Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner collected a pair of assists during Saturday's 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, extending his point streak to 12 games.

Marner joined Lorne Carr as the only players in franchise history with multiple 12-game point streaks. Marner's personal best is 13 games, which he set last season. Eddie Olczyk and Darryl Sittler share the franchise record point streak at 18 games.

"I'm just doing me, like usual," Marner said postgame. "Just trying to buzz out there. Trying to be the best I can be and lucky enough to have some great people to put some pucks in the net."

Marner has three goals and 14 assists during his 12-game run and paces the Leafs with 22 points in 19 contests on the season.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe reunited the dynamic duo of Marner and Auston Matthews during the contest after the former had been playing with John Tavares as his center over the last few games.

Keefe said he made the move because he thought Marner and Matthews had a better chance of shutting down Buffalo's top line of Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch. The move proved successful in that regard, as the Sabres' top trio was limited to just one point - a goal from Tuch.

"Mitch, defensively, what he brings to our group with a matchup that challenging, I thought it was important to put those guys together," Keefe said.

"You forget that Matthews and Marner are two of the best defensive players in the league when they're committed to defending and being hard to play against."

However, the reunion didn't result in any five-on-five offense for the Leafs' top line, as Marner did all of his damage on special teams.

First, Tavares tipped home a Marner one-timer on the power play. Then, while shorthanded, Marner used his patented breakaway drop pass to set up Mark Giordano's goal.

The rest of Toronto's Big Four also came through Saturday. William Nylander potted two goals, Tavares recorded a goal and two assists, and Matthews put up one assist. Matt Murray was also superb between the pipes, stopping 32 of 34 shots in the victory.