Bruins Live Blog: Sabres Earn a Measure of Revenge, Blow Out Bruins 6-0 in Buffalo

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Feb 8, 2012

Bruins Live Blog: Sabres Earn a Measure of Revenge, Blow Out Bruins 6-0 in BuffaloFinal, Sabres 6-0: This one comes to a merciful end, as the Sabres hand the Bruins their worst loss of the season with a 6-0 blowout in Buffalo.

That's the worst loss of the year by far for the Bruins, who had not given up six goals in a game before this one, let alone lose by a half-dozen goals while being shutout.

It also gives the Sabres a bit of payback for the first two meetings of the year, when the Bruins won 6-2 in Boston and 4-3 in a shootout in their last visit to Buffalo. The game at the Garden featured Milan Lucic running over Ryan Miller and no one on the Sabres squad sticking up for their netminder. Miller took care of things himself in this one with a 36-save shutout.

The Bruins are under .500 over their last dozen games at 5-6-1, and it won't get any easier with powerhouse Nashville coming to Boston on Saturday.

Third Period, 18:58, Sabres 6-0: The Sabres add yet another as Drew Stafford scores off a Bruins giveaway.

Joe Corvo coughed up the puck behind the net and Tyler Ennis took control at the left post. Ennis fed it over to Stafford for the easy tap-in at the top of the crease.

Third Period, 17:37, Sabres 5-0: More bad blood with Patrick Kaleta again in the middle of it. Lucic gave him a bump while Kaleta was down, which brought Paul Gaustad over and a scrum developed in front of the benches.

Adam McQuaid grabbed Kaleta away from the pile, but Kaleta turtled. Mike Weber was third man in to help Kaleta, leading to more wrestling. No real fights broke out, but McQuaid did sneak in one good punch on Kaleta. The penalties all evened out, with McQuaid getting a roughing double minor and a misconduct, Lucic a cross-checking minor and a misconduct and Kaleta, Gaustad and Weber two each for roughing. Kaleta also got a misconduct.

Third Period, 12:34, Sabres 5-0: With Krejci back with Lucic (and Pouliot), Chris Kelly is now skating with Jordan Caron and Rich Peverley. The Bergeron and Campbell lines remain unchanged, with various wingers rotating in for Shawn Thornton, who got 17 minutes in penalties for his fight in the final minute of the second.

Third Period, 10:02, Sabres 5-0: Benoit Pouliot with a chance off a steal in front, but he can't put the shot home.

Third Period, 7:20, Sabres 5-0: The Bruins shaking up their lines again. David Krejci is back with Milan Lucic, with Benoit Pouliot on the other wing.

Third Period, 5:28, Sabres 5-0: The Bruins with a rare chance as the Bergeron line creates a scrum in front, but Miller is able to turn aside several bids before tying up the puck for the whistle.

Third Period, 1:18, Sabres 5-0: The Sabres add another as Jason Pominville scores his second of the night.

Pominville flipped in a backhander out of a scramble in front to extend the lead to five goals.

Third Period, 0:00, Sabres 4-0: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins facing a huge hole to dig out of in these last 20 minutes.

Second Intermission Notes: Not too many positives for the Bruins in this one. Needing a big effort in the second after falling behind 2-0 in the first, Boston managed just seven shots in the second. Sabres had 11, scoring twice to push the lead to 4-0.

David Krejci hasn't done much to make a case to move back to the top line. He has just one shot and is a minus-2 in in 10:26. He's also 0-6 on faceoffs.

That's the one area the Bruins have had some success in this one. They're 28-16 on draws (64 percent), with Patrice Bergeron 13-2 and Chris Kelly 8-0.

The Bruins have dominated in the third period this year, but a four-goal deficit may be too much for them to overcome, especially with how they've played so far.

End Second Period, Sabres 4-0: The middle frame comes to a merciful end, but not before the Sabres double the lead and take a commanding four-goal advantage into the third.

Second Period, 19:05, Sabres 4-0: The gloves come off again as Shawn Thornton fights for the second time in this one.

He takes exception to Mike Weber knocking down Benoit Pouliot, and Thornton makes Weber pay, dropping him with a hard left. Thornton picks up an instigator, but the sides will remain even as Weber also picks up an extra roughing minor.

Second Period, 18:11, Sabres 4-0: The Sabres add another goal late in the period as Patrick Kaleta strikes.

Kaleta started the play with a steal from Adam McQuaid to keep the puck in the Bruins zone and he eventually fired in a bad-angle shot from the left side that deflected off McQuaid.

Second Period, 16:38, Sabres 3-0: Dennis Seidenberg gets a little payback on Leino for his snow shower on Thomas. Seidenberg lines up Leino for a big hit behind the Bruins net.

Second Period, 16:20, Sabres 3-0: The Bruins kill off that penalty as well, with Thomas again coming up big, most notably with a stop on a Leino rebound in front.

Second Period, 14:20, Sabres 3-0: The Bruins are shorthanded again, this time with Adam McQuaid going to the box for delay of game after sending the puck over the glass out of play.

Second Period, 13:34, Sabres 3-0: Just as things had calmed down a bit midway through the second, Ville Leino gives Thomas a snow shower, drawing a crowd of angry Bruins, though no penalties were called.

Second Period, 9:09, Sabres 3-0: Thomas with another big save, stopping Derek Roy on a point-blank bid at the right post to keep the Bruins' fading hopes for a comeback in this one alive.

Second Period, 6:00, Sabres 3-0: The Bruins survive that penalty as Thomas made several stellar saves and was helped a couple times by the post as the Sabres were all over the Bruins but couldn't extend the lead further.

Second Period, 4:00, Sabres 3-0: The Bruins are now shorthanded for the first time in this one. Patrick Kaleta knocked Zdeno Chara into Thomas. Chara tracked Kaleta down and flattened him, but gets called for interference.

Second Period, 1:52, Sabres 3-0: That hole just got deeper as Tyler Ennis pushes the lead to three goals.

Ennis came down the middle, cut to the right, gets Dennis Seidenberg turned around and then slipped in a backhander at the near post.

After that goal, Rask is pulled in favor of Tim Thomas in the Bruins net.

Second Period, 0:00, Sabres 2-0: The middle frame is under way, with the Bruins needing a rally to dig out of a two-goal hole.

First Intermission Notes: The Bruins deserved much better in that opening period. They had the better of the chances for much of the first, but Buffalo made the most of its limited opportunities to take a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins had a 12-9 edge in shots and are 11-6 on faceoffs (65 percent), though that last stat is largely based solely on Patrice Bergeron's strong work so far. He's 8-0 on draws, while the rest of the Bruins are just 3-6. Bergeron also has two shots and three hits. His line with Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand has five of Boston's 12 shots so far.

David Krejci also had a shot, getting robbed by Ryan Miller a golden chance in front as Krejci tries to earn his way back to the top line after being demoted to the third unit on Sunday. His old linemate Milan Lucic should be two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe hat trick. Lucic dominated his bout with Patrick Kaleta and should have a goal, but his deflection in front was waved off on a controversial call when Rich Peverley was ruled to have interfered with Miller after the slightest of bumps just outside the crease.

Shawn Thornton also prevailed in an early scrap with Cody McCormick, but so far the victories in the fights are the only positives for the Bruins in this one.

End First Period, Sabres 2-0: The Bruins won the fights, but are losing the game so far as the Sabres strike for the only two goals in the opening period. Rask made a save in the closing seconds to keep it a two-goal deficit.

First Period, 18:42, Sabres 2-0: The Bruins threaten again, but Miller makes back-to-back saves, the second on Bergeron's rebound attempt in close at the right post.

First Period, 14:49, Sabres 2-0: The Sabres add another to extend the lead to two goals.

Ville Leino made the play, coming down the left wing, spinning and sending a backhand across the crease. Jason Pominville finishes the play with a backhander at the right post.

First Period, 12:16, Sabres 1-0: The gloves drop again right off the draw, and Milan Lucic drops Patrick Kaleta in a quick but brutal toe-to-toe exchange.

Lucic went with rights and Kaleta with lefts, and Lucic landed some big shots in that one.

First Period, 8:20, Sabres 1-0: The Bruins appeared to tie it as Milan Lucic tipped one past Miller in front, but the goal is waved off by the ref, who rules Rich Peverley made contact with Miller.

There's no penalty, just incidental contact, but even that was a very questionable call on what appeared to be a good goal.

First Period, 7:40, Sabres 1-0: Both sides are denied on quality chances, with David Krejci denied with a Miller pad save on a point-blank bid, then Rask stopping an Andrej Sekera point shot that was deflected in front.

First Period, 6:23, Sabres 1-0: The Sabres take the early lead as Christian Ehrhoff opens the scoring.

Ehrhoff fired in a shot from the left point that deflected off Gregory Campbell's stick in the near circle and past Rask for the goal.

First Period, 2:26, 0-0: The gloves come off early as the bad blood between the division rivals continues. Shawn Thornton and Cody McCormick are the combatants this time, coming together after a long squareoff and trading some big rights.

Both got in a few, but Thornton appeared to have control of the bout as his superior experience in this part of the game was evident.

First Period, 0:00, 0-0: This one is under way in Buffalo, where the Bruins seek their second win in a row and third straight win over the Sabres this season.

7:35 p.m.: The Bruins will open with their most effective and consistent line all season as Patrice Bergeron starts with Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin up front. Zdemo Chara and Dennis Seidenberg are together on defense to begin this one and Tuukka Rask is in goal.

The Sabres counter with ex-Bruin Brad Boyes, Paul Gaustad and Patrick Kaleta up front, Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr on the blue line and Ryan Miller in net.

7:30 p.m.: The Bruins have scratched Nathan Horton (concussion) and Steven Kampfer once again.

Thomas BVanek (upper body) and Marc-Andre Gragnani are out for Buffalo.

7:05 p.m.: It was Tuukka Rask and Ryan Miller leading the teams out for warm-ups in Buffalo. That will be the goalie matchup as expected in this one.

6:50 p.m.: Injuries have plagued Buffalo all season, and now they've even hit the coaching staff.

Head coach Lindy Ruff will not be behind the bench for this game after suffering three broken ribs after a collision with defenseman Jordan Leopold in practice on Monday.

Ruff does plan on being at the game, watching either from the press box or on TV from his office. Assistant James Patrick will take over behind the bench while Ruff is out.

6:30 p.m.: The Bruins are back in Buffalo, looking for their third straight win over the Sabres this season.

More importantly, they're looking for their second straight win for the first time in nearly a month. Boston hasn't won back-to-back games since beating Winnipeg and Montreal on Jan. 10 and 12, but can start building a new win streak in Buffalo after winning 4-1 in Washington on Sunday.

Tim Thomas played that game and also started in both of Boston's win over Buffalo earlier this season, but Tuukka Rask will get his chance in this one. Claude Julien made a rare pre-game announcement about his goaltending after the morning skate, confirming that Rask would get the nod.

Ryan Miller will start for Buffalo, facing the Bruins for the first time since Milan Lucic flattened him outside the crease at the Garden on Nov. 12. The Sabres did nothing in response, and their play, along with Miller's after he returned to the lineup, has been in a tailspin ever since. Both Miller and the Sabres have shown some signs of life lately, going 3-0-1 in their last four games, all with Miller in goal.

8 a.m. ET: The Bruins will look to build off Sunday's impressive win in Washington as they head to Buffalo for a clash with the Sabres on Wednesday.

The Bruins have struggled against many of the teams mired at the bottom of the standings, but they've won the first two meetings with the Sabres this season. They've been memorable too, with Boston taking a 6-2 win at the Garden on Nov. 12, highlighted by Milan Lucic's controversial hit on Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller and the Sabres' failure to do anything to stick up for their netminder.

They tried to make amends in the rematch Nov. 23 in Buffalo, but Lucic won his early fight with Paul Gaustad handily, and the Bruins rallied for a 4-3 win in a shootout.

The Sabres (22-24-6, 50 points) fell into 14th place in the East with Montreal leapfrogging them after beating Pittsburgh on Tuesday, although Buffalo is 3-0-1 in its last four games.

The Sabres continue to be hit hard by injuries. Thomas Vanek is out with an upper-body injury, and Jochen Hecht is sidelined with a concussion.

Even coach Lindy Ruff isn't safe. He broke three ribs when defenseman Jordan Leopold accidentally crashed into him from behind in practice on Monday. Ruff missed practice on Tuesday and may not be able to coach Wednesday's game.

The Bruins (32-15-2, 66 points) remain without forward Nathan Horton (concussion).

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action.

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