David Alter Sat, October 17, 2026 at 11:02 AM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Darren Raddysh logged a team-high 27:09 of ice time, recorded an assist on Kirill Marchenko's power-play goal and posted a game-high plus-3 rating in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena.
The numbers reflect a promising individual night for the 30-year-old defenceman, who finished with three shots on goal, three blocked shots, one hit and a power-play assist while skating 31 shifts. Raddysh was on the ice for Marchenko's first goal at 13:10 of the opening period, when he and John Tavares set up the right winger's finish that gave Toronto a 2-1 lead. That assist extended Raddysh's point total to four in eight games this season.
Yet the Leafs (3-3-2) could not hold a 4-2 advantage heading into the third period. Buffalo (4-3-1) scored twice in a span of just over two minutes to tie the game before Owen Power won it at 3:14 of overtime on a feed from Jack Quinn . Toronto managed only four shots in the third period after generating 15 and 11 in the first two frames, respectively. Overall, the Sabres outshot the Leafs 35-30.
Raddysh told The Hockey News after the game Thursday that the Leafs felt good entering the final regulation period after controlling play and forcing turnovers earlier.
"I just think we sat back a little bit. They're a good rush team and take great chances from our mistakes. And I think when we saw that in the third period there, we just kind of sat back and let them come at us."
He described the shift in approach as the difference between the first 40 minutes and the third.
"We made a mistake by sitting back. We just can't give them an inch, and we kind of gave it to them. The first two periods, we played in their end, made them make the mistakes and give us the puck, and we kind of did that in the third period for them."
Prior to the third, Raddysh felt the Leafs' defensive structure was effective when they stayed aggressive and used their skating.
"Just trying to get up in the rush, trying to move our feet and defend with our feet and be skating," he said. "We did that good. They were turning the pucks over to us and flipping them out to us, and we were just going right back at them."
Raddysh's comments about sitting back in the third period certainly reflect what was seen on the ice as many fans and observers of the Leafs saw the same thing. But at least Raddysh, Toronto's most prized defensive acquisition in the offseason , had an effective game. With ongoing uncertainty on the back end in the wake of Chris Tanev's downgrade of an upper-body injury to a week-to-week timeline , getting the most from Raddysh will be key to helping the Leafs improve in many aspects on the ice.
"Not the result we wanted, but learn from your mistakes and get better for next game," he said.
The Leafs host the New York Islanders on Saturday.
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Source: Sports
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