It had been more than two months since Nic Petan last played a game. It had been more than 12 months since he last scored a goal.



The 23-year-old checked both boxes Saturday night in his Maple Leafs debut.



“It just felt good to be out there again,” said Petan, who ended up with the game-winner as the Leafs beat the Sabres for the second time in less than a week. “The goal was a cherry on top.”



Petan played just under eight minutes and didn’t touch the puck a whole lot, but it was easy to see nonetheless what Kyle Dubas was thinking when he swung a deal for the former second-round pick just before the trade deadline. He was making a bet on skill — a low-cost, low-risk bet at that. Par Lindholm, who went the other way in the trade that brought Petan to Toronto from Winnipeg on deadline day, was a 27-year-old of limited upside with one goal in his first NHL season, and his contract was expiring.



Petan will turn 24 in...