Final, Sabres 4-2: No third-period magic this time for Boston, as the Sabres hold on for the 4-2 victory at the Garden.
The Bruins now head out on the road, playing at Colorado on Saturday and in Los Angeles on Monday.
Third Period, 19:02, Sabres 4-2: The Bruins will get a power play, as Paul Gaustad is called for cross-checking.
Third Period, 18:19, Sabres 4-2: The Bruins use their timeout. Down two goals, they already had Rask pulled, now they have an offensive-zone faceoff to try to get something going here late.
Third Period, 16:40, Sabres 4-2: The Sabres strike again, as Kampfer went down in the offensive zone, leading to an odd-man break the other way.
Vanek fired it in from the left side. Rask blocked that shot, but directed it right to Jason Pominville and it bounced back into the net.
Third Period, 14:18, Sabres 3-2: Vanek turns on the jets and blows past Kampfer, but Rask makes the stop on his blast from the right circle.
Third Period, 13:10, Sabres 3-2: The Bruins didn’t need any help from the officials on that shift, as Mark Stuart was hitting everything in sight. He plastered Shaone Morrisonn and Cody McCormick both with big hits.
Third Period, 11:45, Sabres 3-2: The Bruins get a little help from the lineman, who inadvertently puts a nice hit on Gerbe at the blue line.
Third Period, 9:08, Sabres 3-2: Nathan Horton coming on for a change gets a chance at a loose puck at the blue line and fires in a one-timer, but Miller makes the glove save.
Third Period, 7:37, Sabres 3-2: Things get a bit heated after the puck pops over the glass. Little Nathan Gerbe surprisingly goes after Chara, but nothing serious develops.
Third Period, 5:13, Sabres 3-2: The Sabres take their first lead of the game as a Bruins turnover in the offensive zone leads to a 2-on-1 break.
Thomas Vanek leads the rush down the right side and takes the shot himself, beating Rask from the circle.
Third Period, 3:30, 2-2: The Bruins have started strong in the third, outshooting the Sabres 5-1 early and creating several scoring chances, but it remains 2-2.
Third Period, 0:00, 2-2: The third period is under way at the Garden, with the Bruins hoping to add to their league-best 59-26 advantage in the third this season.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins have been a dominant team in the third period all season, and they will have to be again in this one after allowing the Sabres to rally from a goal down twice in the second.
The fourth line came up big again with all three members collecting a point on Greg Campbell’s goal, but the Bruins need more production out of their actual scoring lines to go along with that.
Boston still holds a 17-6 edge in hits, but they led just 4-3 in a second period that didn’t feature a lot of contact. Not body contact anyway. Puck on body contact was plentiful. The Sabres lead Boston 11-7 in blocked sots, but that advantage has come at a price with Mike Weber and Patrick Kaleta both leaving injured after blocking shots by Steven Kampfer and Johnny Boychuk, respectively.
End Second Period, 2-2: The Bruins will have to win this one in the third, as Buffalo pulled even twice in the second to head into the final frame tied 2-2.
Second Period, 19:20, 2-2: Dangerous turnover in his own zone by Tyler Seguin, but the Bruins are able to clear it.
Second Period, 14:15, 2-2: Another Sabre goes down blocking a shot, this time Kaleta in pain after taking a Boychuk slapper at close range.
Second Period, 12:28, 2-2: The Bruins with a chance on a 2-on-1 break, but Savard looks to pass to Horton first, and that hesitation costs him as he finally shoots wide.
Second Period, 11:41, 2-2: The Sabres’ Mike Weber is hurt in front blocking a Steven Kampfer shot. He heads gingerly to the locker room after getting some attention from the training staff.
Second Period, 10:36, 2-2: The Sabres tie it up again, as Nathan Gerbe scores from the left circle off a cross from Tyler Myers.
Prior to that, the Bruins nearly scored twice shorthanded, with Mark Recchi robbed by a Miller glove save on a backhander in front and Chara denied from the left wing on a 3-on-2 break.
Second Period, 9:11, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins’ fourth line was applying good pressure again, but Wheeler gets a little too close to Miller and gets called for goaltender interference, as Buffalo goes back on the power play.
Second Period, 4:51, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins answer right back, with the fourth line striking for the go-ahead goal.
Shawn Thornton sent it out from the left corner to Blake Wheeler, who perfectly one-touched it on to Greg Campbell all alone in front. Campbell then buried the shot to put Boston back ahead.
Second Period, 3:50, 1-1: The Bruins come up empty on the power play again, and are now 0 for 3 on the man-advantage in this one.
Second Period, 1:50, 1-1: The Bruins will have a chance to get that goal back, as they go on the power play with Nathan Gerbe sent off for tripping.
Second Period, 1:04, 1-1: The Sabres pull even as Cody McCormick scores on his second chance in front.
His first shot beat Rask, but clanged off the near post from the left slot. The rebound came right back to McCormick in front, and he left no doubt about his second shot into the open right side of the net.
Second Period, 0:00, Bruins 1-0: The middle frame is under way, with the Bruins trying to build on their one-goal lead. Boston is 15-0-1 when leading after the first period and 18-1-3 when scoring first. The Sabres are 6-9-3 when trailing after one period.
First Intermission Notes: Decent start to the night for the Bruins, who got the first goal and some timely saves from Tuukka Rask in the opening frame.
Dennis Seidenberg continued the trend of defensemen scoring with the first goal in this one. But it was two forwards who played key roles in that score. Marc Savard won the offensive-zone draw cleanly, and Nathan Horton provided the screen in front of Ryn Miller. Good to see Horton continuing to work hard and find ways to contribute even while he struggles to score. His drought continued in the first when he wasn’t able to convert on a clean breakaway.
The Bruins have been getting outhit in most games of late, but they played a physical first and that’s reflected in their 13-3 edge in hits. Shawn Thornton, David Krejci, Johnny Boychuk and Brad Marchand each have two hits to lead Boston.
End First Period, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins head into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead after a solid opening 20 minutes.
First Period, 18:46, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins kill off Lucic’s minor. The PK featured an interesting battle in front as 6-foot-9 Chara and 5-foot-5 Nathan Gerbe struggled for position in front of Rask.
First Period, 16:46, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins will have a big penalty kill here late in the first as Milan Lucic is sent to the box for tripping.
First Period, 16:18, Bruins 1-0: There is a danger in activating the defense too much, as Seidenberg gets caught up ice, and the Sabres have a 3-on-2 break, but can’t convert.
First Period, 13:33, Bruins 1-0: Sabres agitator Patrick Kaleta goes for the big hit on Seidenberg, though Kaleta looked to get the worst of the collision.
First Period, 11:01, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins grab the early lead on a blast from the blue line by Dennis Seidenberg as the Bruins’ defense continues to produce offense.
Marc Savard won the offensive-zone draw back to Mark Stuart, who flipped it to Seidenberg for the one-timer as Nathan Horton set the screen in front.
First Period, 10:21, 0-0: The Bruins can’t convert on that power play, even with the full two minutes to work with that time.
First Period, 8:21, 0-0: The Bruins will get their first full power play as Thomas Vanek is sent off for slashing.
First Period, 5:12, 0-0: Nathan Horton’s struggles continues, as he’s in alone on a clean break, but get put it home on a backhand move from the top of the crease.
First Period, 4:37, 0-0: That didn’t last long, as Gragnani gets called for tripping Blake Wheeler. It will be 4 on 4 for 1:32, then the Bruins will have a brief power play.
First Period, 4:09, 0-0: The Bruins will be shorthanded as Steven Kampfer draws the game’s first penalty for hooking.
First Period, 3:30, 0-0: Bit of a slow start to this one, but the fourth line tries to inject some energy as Shawn Thornton throws a pair of hits on Gragnani.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: This one is under way here at the Garden, with the Bruins looking to win their third straight game after a sweep of Carolina in a home-and-home series earlier in the week.
7 p.m.: The Bruins will open this one with their usual starting line of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi, with Zdeno Chara and Steven Kampfer on defense and Tuukka Rask in goal.
The Sabres will counter with their top line of Thomas Vanek, Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville, with Jordan Leopold and ex-Bruin Steve Montador on the blue line and Ryan Miller in net.
6:55 p.m.: No surprises with the scratches, as Daniel Paille and Adam McQuaid are out for Boston.
Drew Stafford (groin) is out for Buffalo, along with defensemen Craig Rivet and Chris Butler. Buffalo still has seven defensemen dressed, with call-up Marc-Andre Gragnani expected to see time at forward.
6:40 p.m.: No changes in the Bruins lines during warm-ups:
Ryder-Savard-Horton
Marchand-Bergeron-Recchi
Lucic-Krejci-Seguin
Wheeler-Campbell-Thornton
Daniel Paille was on the ice for warm-ups, but did not skate in the line drills. He’s expected to be the healthy scratch again.
The defense did see some changes with Andrew Ference back. He skated with Dennis Seidenberg, while Zdeno Chara stayed with Steven Kampfer and Johnny Boychuk moved down with Mark Stuart.
6:30 p.m.: As expected, Tuukka Rask and Ryan Miller led their teams onto the ice for warm-ups.
That will be the goaltending matchup for this one.
6 p.m.: The Bruins will host the Sabres in about an hour before heading back on the road with a trip out West to Colorado and Los Angeles.
The Bruins will have Andrew Ference back in the lineup as he returns from an upper-body injury, while Adam McQuaid will get the night off to heal up some minor bumps and bruises of his own.
Tuukka Rask was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, indicating he will likely get the start in this one. Ryan Miller is expected to start his 23rd straight game for Buffalo.
8 a.m.: The Bruins return home — and return to Northeast Division play — on Thursday when they host Buffalo, fresh off weathering everything the Hurricanes could throw at them on Tuesday.
Boston, thanks largely to another stellar outing by Tim Thomas, completed a sweep of the home-and-home series against the Canes with a 3-2 win in Carolina.
The Bruins have now won five of their last six games, scoring 29 goals in that six-game stretch while allowing just 12.
It’s been an impressive and entertaining a run of hockey for the Bruins, but they can’t afford to let up at all. Boston has moved into the second spot in the East, but Southeast Division leader Tampa Bay is tied in points and sits in third only because the Bruins have played one less game, while Montreal is just three points behind Boston for the Northeast Division lead.
And if the Bruins need a reminder about what can happen if they let down their guard, they need just look at the last two meetings with the Sabres. Buffalo took a 3-2 decision in Buffalo on Dec. 15 with Drew Stafford scoring all three Sabres goals, and then won a wild 7-6 shootout victory on Jan. 1 as Stafford scored another hat trick and also tallied in the shootout. Even in the last meeting in the Garden, the Bruins needed an overtime goal from Mark Recchi to squeak out a 3-2 win on Dec. 7.
The good news for Boston is that Stafford, who has seven of his 15 goals this season in his three games against the Bruins, is not expected to play on Thursday after suffering a groin injury Tuesday against Montreal. With Derek Roy (torn quad) also out for the year, Buffalo’s offense is limited, though its offensiveness has been boosted by the return of agitator Patrick Kaleta on Tuesday after missing seven games with an upper-body injury.
And the Sabres still have reigning Vezina winner Ryan Miller in net and Bruins killer Thomas Vanek (21-19-40 in 38 career games against Boston) up front. Buffalo is 6-2-1 in its last nine games as the Sabres try to stay in contention for a playoff spot. The Bruins will look to try to give those hopes a blow on Thursday while solidifying their own hold on the Northeast Division lead.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
