Score: Sabres 3 | Bruins 4
Shots: BUF 40 | BOS 23
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Rasmus Dahlin (1-PP), Josh Doan (4), Alex Tuch (4)
Boston Bruins Goals: Morgan Geekie (9-PP), David Pastrnak (7), Mark Kastelic (3), Marat Khusnutdinov (1-GWG)
Minus-1: Another First Period Fumble
The opening period of the game started out well for the Sabres. They skated hard, had possession of the puck quite a bit, and outshot their opponent by a lot. Buffalo – the best penalty kill in the league – successfully killed their first penalty against this tough Bruins team (and even held them to zero shots with that man-advantage). However, it did not translate in the second half of the period. Boston scored not only the first goal of the night on their second power play (thanks to Morgan Geekie following a tripping call on Rasmus Dahlin) but also the second goal, a quick wrister by David Pastrnak, unassisted. Geekie is quite the player to keep an eye on these days. He is now the sixth player in Bruins history to have recorded multiple goals in at least six consecutive games.
Minus-2: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
It looked as though the Sabres would be incapable of scoring with the man-advantage tonight after going 0-2 in their first pair of power plays. However, Dahlin stepped in to get the job done from the point and slapped the puck into Boston’s net, top shelf. The Sabres were 1-5 with the man-advantage tonight.
Unfortunately, though, the joy for the visiting team was short-lived as the Bruins answered right back with another one of their own, taking back the two-goal lead for the second time with just seconds remaining in the second period. Certainly not the way you want to enter the final intermission of the game.
Plus-1: Battling Back
One thing was for sure tonight and that is that the Sabres refused to roll over and give up. While there have been frustrating moments, they cannot be faulted for lack of effort. Peyton Krebs even had a fantastic hit on Pastrnak, which was retaliated through linemate Michael Eyssimont and caused a brief fight between the two. Alex Tuch tied up the game for the first time all night with his goal right off of the faceoff on the stick side of Joonas Korpisalo, which forced the game into yet another overtime.
Final Thoughts
The Sabres outshot the Bruins nearly two-to-one, but the combination of poor quality of those shots and Korpisalo having a solid night between the pipes were major contributors to the final score tonight. While they went into overtime for the third game in a row, Buffalo also lost their third game in a row. Ultimately, it was Dahlin misplaying the puck in the Bruins’ end in the final seconds to give the home team an easy three-on-one opportunity to snag the win, 4-3.
Three Stars:
1. Marat Khusnutdinov (GWG, +2)
2. David Pastrnak (1G, 1A)
3. Joonas Korpisalo (37 SV)