BUFFALO, N.Y. -- With an early burst of offense, the Toronto Maple Leafs made quick work of the Buffalo Sabres and are knocking on the door of the playoffs.

The Maple Leafs scored three goals in 43 seconds on their way to a 4-2 win over the Sabres on Monday night.

Toronto (39-24-15, 93 points) moved up to second in the Atlantic Division and is one point ahead of the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins as the teams battle for playoff positioning.

With three more points, the Leafs would be assured of a postseason spot.

"It's a big one," Toronto center William Nylander said. "We knew the importance of it coming in. We know what's going on around the league. All the good teams that are usually in it are doing their job and winning games and now it's up to us to do our job and win games."

Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist. Leo Komarov, Auston Matthews and James van Riemsdyk also scored and Frederik Andersen made 20 saves.

Komarov opened the scoring 4:26 into the game. Following a giveaway by Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe, Kadri took control of the puck in the right circle before finding Komarov wide open to his left. Komarov had a tap-in for his 13th goal of the year.

Matthews made it 2-0 on a terrific shot at 5:01. After taking a hard pass from Nylander, the rookie phenom scored his 39th goal of the season on a wrist shot to the glove side.

Just eight seconds later, van Riemsdyk made it 3-0. After a face-off win in the Buffalo zone by Tyler Bozak, Bozak quickly fed van Riemsdyk. Van Riemsdyk kicked the puck to his stick and fired a shot to the glove side for his 26th goal of the season at 5:09.

"I actually think we are playing hard and playing well because we believe we have an opportunity," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "We believe we have a good team and want to be able to showcase that."

Ryan O'Reilly and Jack Eichel scored for Buffalo (32-35-12). Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner was pulled from the game after allowing three goals on five shots. Anders Nilsson made 39 saves after replacing Lehner.

It was one of the worst games of the year for the Sabres and by far their worst start of the season. Not only did Buffalo surrender three quick goals to open the game, but the Sabres were outshot 18-2 in the first period.

"The first 10 minutes of the game we basically handed them two of the goals," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "That's no way to start a hockey game. They were gifts, they were gaffes."

Buffalo also lost its composure at times after falling behind. Evander Kane received a slashing penalty for slashing Jake Gardiner's stick out of his hands away from the flow of play, and just before the end of the first period Marcus Foligno was given a penalty for cross-checking Kadri. Kane also received a 10-minute misconduct with 5:57 remaining in the game.

"We had a lot of success against them a week ago and just didn't do that tonight," Eichel said. "They were hungrier. They wanted it more than us."

O'Reilly gave the Sabres some brief life by getting on the board 1:51 into the second period on a short-handed goal. O'Reilly raced down the right wing past defenseman Jake Gardiner and picked up his 20th goal of the season on a high shot to the blocker side.

Kadri made it 4-1 5:50 into the third after stirring things up around the Sabres net. Kadri scored after bumping Nilsson at the top of the crease, which led to several scrums, roughing penalties and a 10-minute game misconduct to Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.

Eichel made it 4-2 with 55.6 seconds left on a breakaway goal.

Toronto outshot Buffalo 45-22 overall.

NOTES: Sabres LW Alexander Nylander played in his first NHL game and finished with an even rating in 14:28 of ice time. Nylander was chosen eighth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Sabres. He made his debut against his brother, William Nylander, who plays for the Maple Leafs. ... RW Kyle Okposo, LW Matt Moulson, D Taylor Fedun, D Justin Falk and LW Nicolas Deslauriers were scratched for the Sabres. Moulson was a healthy scratch. ... D Alexey Marchenko, RW Ben Smith, C Eric Fehr, RW Nikita Soshnikov, LW Josh Leivo and D Martin Marincin were scratched for the Maple Leafs.