Despite their gaudy document and spot atop the Atlantic Division, the Bruins will not be a group that may present as much as a recreation a half hour late and steal a win.
They realized that lesson on Thursday evening on the Garden, when the beforehand struggling Buffalo Sabres took it to the B’s for the primary half of the sport and took house a well-deserved 3-1 victory.
The Sabres, enjoying with out prime defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (decrease physique), scored a pair of objectives within the second interval and one within the third and that was ok.
What was extra regarding than the defeat was the lack of Charlie McAvoy, who left the sport with an obvious head damage within the third interval.
In the primary interval, the Bruins seemed like a group that had three days off and wanted to shake off the cobwebs. They have been outshot by the Sabres 19-6.
It was a scoreless first interval, although it briefly seemed just like the Sabres had taken a lead with 5:18 left in a bizarre sequence. Newly acquired ahead Eric Robinson poked the puck house beneath Linus Ullmark. It was initially waved off by the official behind the web however, after a convention in the course of the industrial break, the Sabres have been awarded the purpose.
Then B’s coach Jim Montgomery challenged for goalie interference and the video clearly confirmed that Kyle Okposo had shoved Ullmark into the web together with his stick, permitting Robinson to get on the puck. The purpose rightly got here off the board, however they couldn’t maintain the Sabres at bay with the period of time they have been permitting their guests within the Boston zone.
Buffalo did get its 1-0 lead early within the second interval at 1:18, on a easy play. Dylan Cozens cleanly beat Pavel Zacha in a faceoff on the left circle, drawing it straight again to J.J. Peterka, who appeared to shock Ullmark with a snap shot over the glove.
The B’s, who have been with out rookie Matt Poitras (first wholesome scratch), wanted to seek out each their legs and palms, however they have been laborious to find on this evening.
They caught a break when killing a penalty for too many males on the ice. It seemed like they may go down two males when Cozens was tripped on the Boston blue line but it surely was let go. Then just a few seconds later, Tage Thompson was referred to as for slashing Zacha’s stick. But the B’s might do nothing with the 4-on-4 or the 1:02 of energy play time.
They did begin spending somewhat extra time within the Buffalo zone, holding an 11-9 shot benefit within the second. But after Devon Levi stoned Brad Marchand on a glittering likelihood from the slot, the Sabres took a 2-0 lead. Old pal Connor Clifton jumped down from his proper level spot previous James van Riemsdyk to win a puck alongside the half board and feed Thompson, who whistled it previous Ullmark at 16:57.
But simply 38 seconds later, the B’s lastly bought one again with 2:25 left within the interval, because of a lucky bounce. Marchand drifted up into the appropriate circle and, with out a lot of a play, he fired the puck towards the web. It bounced off Sabre defenseman Erik Johnson and previous Levi for Marchand’s twelfth of the season and the fifth straight Bruin purpose scored by the captain, courting again to his additional time game-winner final Saturday in Toronto.
The B’s pushed laborious within the third interval with heaps off offensive zone time, however the often porous Sabres performed properly in entrance of Levi. Eventually, they busted out on a 2-on-1, with Victor Olofsson taking the shot and snapping it previous Ullmark with 8:44 remaining in regulation, ending a interval of 10:30 of steady play.
At that time, it didn’t appear to be it was going to be the B’s evening, particularly after the B’s had misplaced McAvoy when he was dazed on a reverse hit from Peterka.
The B’s pulled Ullmark with over three minutes left and saved the puck within the Buffalo zone for nearly all of it, however couldn’t get one other previous Levi.
Source: www.bostonherald.com