Final, Boston Wins 4-0
The Bruins matched their season-high with four goals in a dominant win over the Sabres. Three of the goals were scored by defensemen, one each from Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton. Boston’s penalty kill also impressed with a perfect 7-7 mark in short-handed situations.
The Bruins are back to the .500 mark at 3-3-0 and will return home for a matchup with the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night at TD Garden.
Stay tuned to NESN.com for postgame coverage and highlights.
Third Period, 17:25, 4-0 Boston: Shots are 10-10 this period with two minutes left. The Bruins are still playing hard to help Niklas Svedberg earn his first career shutout.
Third Period, 14:25, 4-0 Boston: The Marchand-Bergeron-Smith line spends over a minute in the attacking zone but is unable to score despite directing at least four shots at Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth.
Third Period, 11:25, 4-0 Boston: The Bruins penalty kill now is 7-7 tonight.
Third Period, 9:25, 4-0 Boston: The Bruins’ power play has expired. They tallied one shot on goal with the man advantage. Seconds after that power play ended, Gregory Campbell took a minor penalty for tripping.
Third Period, 8:23, 4-0 Boston: Nicolas Deslauriers takes a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Sabres forward was yelling at one of the referees and wouldn’t stop.
The Bruins return to the power play.
Third Period, 5:05, 4-0 Boston: The Kelly-Soderberg-Eriksson line has an extended shift in the attacking zone, totaling five shots on goal.
Third Period, 2:02, 4-0 Boston: Loui Eriksson will sit in the penalty box for elbowing. Buffalo returns to the power play, where it’s 0-4 tonight.
Third Period, 1:13, 4-0 Boston: The Bruins have killed the remainder of Dennis Seidenberg’s penalty from late in the second period.
Third Period, 0:01, 4-0 Boston: Play has resumed.
End of Second Period, 4-0 Boston
Stats
Shots: Boston 24-21
Faceoffs: Boston 19-17
Hits: Boston 11-10
Power Play: Boston 0-1, Buffalo 0-3
Goals
First Period
Dougie Hamilton (1), assisted by Patrice Bergeron (3)
Zdeno Chara (2), assisted by Brad Marchand (2) and Dougie Hamilton (1)
Second Period
Torey Krug (1), assisted by David Krejci (3)
Carl Soderberg (2), unassisted
Second Period, 19:14, 4-0 Boston: Dennis Seidenberg takes a hooking penalty. Buffalo is returning to the power play.
Second Period, 18:47, 4-0 Boston: The Bruins’ power play has expired.
Second Period, 16:46, 4-0 Boston: Cody Hodgson takes a penalty to prevent Loui Eriksson from scoring on a 2-on-1 chance. The Bruins will have a power play for 1:19 when 4-on-4 concludes.
Second Period, 15:28, 4-0 Boston: Brad Marchand has taken a tripping penalty and Buffalo will return to the power play.
Second Period, 14:48, 4-0 Boston: The goals keep coming for Boston. Carl Soderberg has scored his second goal of the season with a nice backhand shot. Four goals ties a season-high for the Bruins — they also scored four times Thursday night in Montreal.
Second Period, 11:40, 3-0 Boston: Torey Krug has scored his first goal of the season on a wrist shot from the right point. Just prior to that shot attempt, he was denied on a goal line attempt when Buffalo d-man Josh Gorges blocked it with his stick. All three of Boston’s goals tonight have been scored by defensemen. David Krejci picked up an assist on Krug’s goal.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
Second Period, 9:25, 2-0 Boston: Milan Lucic fires a shot from the slot, and then Simon Gagne follows up with a rebound attempt, but Jhonas Enroth denies both of them. The B’s top line is playing well tonight — six shots combined.
Second Period, 3:25, 2-0 Boston: The Bruins kill the penalty. Their penalty kill is 3-3 tonight.
Second Period, 1:25, 2-0 Boston: Adam McQuaid has taken an interference penalty and Boston will be short-handed for the third time.
Second Period, 0:01, 2-0 Boston: Play has resumed.
The Bruins have announced Kevan Miller won’t return to the game. He did not return to the bench after exiting the ice following his fight with Nicolas Deslauriers.
End of First Period, 2-0 Boston
Stats
Shots: Buffalo 16-12
Faceoffs: Boston 13-10
Hits: Boston 6-5
Power Play: Boston 0-1, Buffalo 0-2
Goals
Dougie Hamilton (1), assisted by Patrice Bergeron (3)
Zdeno Chara (2), assisted by Brad Marchand (2) and Dougie Hamilton (1)
First Period, 16:41, 2-0 Boston: Buffalo has killed the penalty and we’re back to even strength.
First Period, 14:41, 2-0 Boston: The Bruins are going on their first power play. Cody McCormack took a tripping penalty.
First Period, 13:31, 2-0 Boston: Zdeno Chara’s shot from the left point beats Jhonas Enroth, who was screened in front of his net. The Bruins have their first two-goal lead of the season. Patrice Bergeron earned his second assist of the night, giving him 500 points for his career.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
First Period, 10:06, 1-0 Boston: The Bruins have killed the penalty and we’re back to even strength.
First Period, 10:06, 1-0 Boston: David Krejci is going to the penalty box for goaltender interference.
First Period, 9:56, 1-0 Boston: Dougie Hamilton has opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. His shot from the right point found its way through traffic and past Jhonas Enroth. Patrice Bergeron was credited with an assist.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
First Period, 8:20, 0-0: Boston’s backup goaltender has played well in this first period.
[tweet https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/523615682249109505 align=”center”]
First Period, 7:55, 0-0: Nicolas Deslauriers and Kevan Miller drop the gloves for a spirited bout. It’s the first fight of the season for both players. Miller went to the locker room after the fight.
First Period, 7:03, 0-0: Dennis Seidenberg blocks four shots in a 10-second span as Boston kills the penalty.
First Period, 5:03, 0-0: Cody Hodgson finds Chris Stewart with a centering pass from behind the net, but the veteran winger is stopped by Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg.
David Krejci took a hooking penalty at the end of the play, and the Bruins will be short-handed for the first time tonight.
First Period, 1:05, 0-0: Simon Gagne is starting next to David Krejci and Milan Lucic on the top line, as the Bruins begin the game with a quick 5-0 shot advantage.
First Period, 0:01, 0-0: We’re underway!
7:05 p.m.: Ryan Spooner, Seth Griffith and Matt Bartkowski are the healthy scratches for Boston tonight.
6:40 p.m. ET: The Boston Bruins are aiming to end their first road trip of three-plus games with a victory Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres at the First Niagara Center.
Boston is 1-1-0 on the road trip so far, with a 3-2 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday and a 6-4 loss to the rival Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
The B’s are 2-4-0 to start the season, and Saturday’s contest will be their seventh game in just 10 days. Luckily for Boston, it has a good chance to reach the .500 mark again because the Sabres are one of the worst teams in the NHL. They are 1-4-0 to start the 2014-15 campaign with just eight goals scored (second-fewest in the East) and 18 goals allowed (second-most in conference).
Sabres head coach Ted Nolan confirmed after the team’s morning skate that veteran Jhonas Enroth will start in net. He was 1-1-0 with a 3.56 goals against average and a .902 save percentage against Boston in 2013-14. Niklas Svedberg will make his second start of the season for Boston. The 25-year-old Swede gave up two goals with a .967 save percentage in a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
The Bruins were 3-1-1 against the Sabres last season. Thursday’s game is the first of ? meetings between these Atlantic Division rivals in 2014-15.
The projected lines and pairings are listed below.
BOSTON (2-4-0)
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Simon Gagne
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Matt Fraser
Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller-Torey Krug
BUFFALO (1-4-0)
Matt Moulson-Tyler Ennis-Drew Stafford
Marcus Foligno-Cody Hodgson-Chris Stewart
Torrey Mitchell-Zemgus Girgensons-Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers-Brian Flynn-Cody McCormack
Josh Gorges-Tyler Myers
Mike Weber-Rasmus Ristolainen
Andre Benoit-Andrej Meszaros
