Final, Bruins 5-2: That’s it, and that’s all.
The Bruins win easily 5-2. But it might have come at a cost, as Loui Eriksson didn’t return after that vicious hit from John Scott.
Third period, 17:00, Bruins 5-2: There’s about three minutes to play in the game, and it looks like both clubs are OK with just letting this one end.
I’d be surprised to see any retaliation from the Bruins at this point, because what’s the point? They have a game tomorrow night against the red-hot Sharks, and the Sabres aren’t really worth their time at this point. The season is still very, very young, though.
Third period, 15:00, Bruins 5-2: Loui Eriksson went to the dressing room after the hit from John Scott. He hasn’t returned. Brad Marchand is skating on the Patrice Bergeron line in his place.
Third period, 9:37, Bruins 5-2: That’s how you make a team pay for a dirty hit.
On the power play the Bruins got following John Scott’s hit on Loui Eriksson, the B’s capitalize. Torey Krug scored the goal after snapping a wrist shot from the left wing to beat Ryan Miller short side.
Third period, 5:49, Bruins 4-2: John Scott is about to get a very, very long break from playing hockey in the NHL.
The Buffalo goon just clipped Loui Eriksson with a shot to the head, and it might cost Eriksson dearly. Scott went right after Eriksson, and he nailed the Bruins winger with a hit to the head that left Eriksson dazed.
Adam McQuaid went to his teammate’s defense and fought Scott, but the damage was already done.
Third period, 4:21, Bruins 4-2: The Sabres, they just aren’t very good, and they certainly don’t do the little things that make the difference and win hockey games.
Reilly Smith went to gather a puck behind the Buffalo net, and he was able to push it to Torey Krug who was also coming in on the play. The puck got to Krug and it bounced to the front of the net, and Krug just outworked Drew Stafford to get the puck. Krug then spun and put it on the net, and it looked like Stafford got his stick caught on Ryan Miller’s.
Third period, 3:48, Bruins 3-2: Not a bad start for the Sabres to the period with a good shift in the Boston end, but the B’s still have the best chance of the period.
David Krejci found Zdeno Chara as the big defenseman came down the left wing, but Ryan Miller made the save on a Chara one-timer.
Third period, 0:01, Bruins 3-2: Despite outplaying Buffalo for much of the game, the Bruins find themselves in a game as the third period begins.
End second period, Bruins 3-2: The second period just came to a close, and the Bruins came close to making it a 4-2 hockey game. Ryan Miller wouldn’t let it happen, though.
Miller made a couple of big saves, including a dandy on David Krejci right in front, to keep Buffalo within one. That Krejci line did some good work there late in the period to generate some chances. That line, along with with the Patrice Bergeron line, have been very good so far for the B’s.
Second period, 15:13, Bruins 3-2: Chad Johnson is a backup goaltender in the NHL. He is not Tuukka Rask. We just got visual confirmation of both moments ago.
The Boston backup gave up pretty soft goal from Nikita Zadorov. The rookie walked the puck down the right wing before just flinging the backhander at the net, and Johnson couldn’t make the save as the puck beat him to his right.
It’s the first career goal for Zadorov, a soft one allowed by Johnson.
Second period, 11:50, Bruins 3-1: Dougie Hamilton scored his first career goal in Buffalo, and he’s on the board again against the Sabres.
Hamilton just scored a beautiful goal as he jumped into the rush and eventually became part of a 2-on-1 with Brad Marchand who made a perfect pass across the slot. Hamilton quickly flipped it up over Ryan Miller.
Second period, 8:21, Bruins 2-1: The Sabres don’t do a lot of things very well, but they do have some weapons that are especially potent on the power play.
They just cut the Boston lead in half with a goal on the man-advantage that has them back in the game and has the Sabres fans feeling a little better about their team.
Thomas Vanek continued to terrorize the Bruins as he threaded the needle from the left faceoff dot to Cody Hodgson who was going toward the net. The puck deflected off of Hodgson’s skate and by Chad Johnson.
Second period, 7:38, Bruins 2-0: Just about as soon as the Bruins kill off the penalty to David Krejci, they’re called for another infraction.
This one was a bit of a mental lapse. Dennis Seidenberg came flying off the bench, but he did so at the wrong time, and the puck hit him on the way off before the change could be completed.
Second period, 7:00, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins have killed off the penalty to David Krejci with little resistance from the Sabres.
Second period, 4:20, Bruins 2-0: The Sabres were able to kill off the first penalty, and the Bruins took themselves out of the second one.
David Krejci was called for high-sticking, a penalty he was goaded into by Steve Ott. After a faceoff in the Buffalo zone, Ott nailed Krejci with a little bit of a punch that went uncalled. Krejci retaliated and he got the only penalty.
SEcond period, 3:01, Bruins 2-0: Make it a 5-on-3 for about a minute.
Kevin Porter shoved Torey Krug from behind as the Bruins defenseman went to gather the puck in the Buffalo zone. They were to close to the boards and Porter gets the boarding call.
Second period, 1:58, Bruins 2-0: Now the Bruins will get a power play.
Henrik Tallinder was just called for high-sticking, and Boston goes on the power play for the first time in this one.
Second period, 0:40, Bruins 2-0: Milan Lucic was back on the bench to start the second period with some stitch work after taking a puck to the face, and he didn’t take long to make a difference.
Lucic just scored his second goal of the game, thanks to an absolutely gorgeous pass from Jarome Iginla. With Lucic screaming down the left wing, Iginla put it right on the big forward’s tape, and he scored an easy one to give Boston the 2-0 lead.
Second period, 0:01, Bruins 1-0: The second period is underway.
End first period, Bruins 1-0: The first period was a quick one with few whistles, which is what we’ll blame on the lack of updates.
There wasn’t much to be seen in the final few minutes of the period, although it wasn’t a fun couple of moments for Milan Lucic. The Boston forward just took a puck to the face as he tried to get in on the forecheck. According to the game broadcast, there was no blood as Lucic left the ice and went to the dressing room, but he was certainly in pain.
Makes sense, too, considering he just took a frozen hockey puck to the face.
Boston outshot the Sabres 7-6 in the first.
First period, 12:50, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins killed off the penalty, and as is often the case, they got a scoring chance out of it.
Patrice Bergeron led a strong shorthanded charge, and it’s still 1-0 Boston in the first.
First period, 12:42, Bruins 1-0: The Sabres will get the first power play of the game.
Carl Soderberg was called for goaltender interference, and the Sabres go to work.
On that Bruins goal, it has been reversed in terms of scoring. Milan Lucic has been credited with the goal, so Jarome Iginla is still goalless.
First period, 11:00, Bruins 1-0: Jarome Iginla is a goal scorer. He scores goals. And he scores goals that he has no business scoring.
Iginla just got his first as a Bruin, but it was with a little help from Ryan Miller. The Bruins winger took a shot on goal from the high slot, and the puck eventually trickled through the Buffalo goalie.
It’s been all Bruins so far.
First period, 8:40, 0-0: The Bruins look like a team that should contend and potentially make a deep run this season. The Sabres, however, look like one of the worst teams in the league. All things considered, this one has started just like you’d think it would.
The Bruins should be leading right now, but Ryan Miller made an absolutely fantastic save against Loui Eriksson. The Bruins forward was on the doorstep and tried to jam home a one-time bid from right in front, but Miller went post to post to make the save.
That line, the Patrice Bergeron line, has been terrific so far. They are all over the place, and they’ve generated a couple of scoring chances already. Eriksson has been the best player on the ice.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: And we’re off.
7:40 p.m.: It appears that the Bruins are going with no changes when it comes to their forward lines.
Carl Soderberg made his debut Saturday in Tampa Bay, and he played pretty well. That was good enough to keep him in the lineup. That’s bad news for Jordan Caron, who had simmered some after a hot start and was the healthy scratch Saturday against the Lightning.
The defensive pairs also appear to be the same, which would mean Dougie Hamilton is in and Matt Bartkowski is out.
Here are the Bruins’ lines against Buffalo, according to pregame line rushes.
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Reilly Smith — Patrice Bergeron — Loui Eriksson
Carl Soderberg — Chris Kelly — Brad Marchand
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara — Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg — Dougie Hamilton
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid
7:30 p.m.: The two teams have taken the ice in Buffalo for pregame warmups.
If there’s one player the Bruins will look to slow in this Sabres lineup, it’s Thomas Vanek. He has absolutely torched Boston in his career. In 49 games against the B’s, Vanek has 29 goals and 27 assists for 1.14 points per game. Only Jaromir Jagr and Daniel Alfredsson have more points against the Bruins for their careers, and of those two, Jagr is the only one with a better point-per-game average. Vanek is actually averaging more than a half-goal per game when the two teams meet, but it certainly feels like more than that.
Some of that comes from a five-point game against the Bruins on Jan. 31 of last season. He’s off to a solid start this season, with 3-6-9 totals through nine games.
7 p.m.: We already spoke about Chad Johnson, who is making the start for the Bruins tonight. He’ll be opposed by a familiar face to the Bruins in Ryan Miller.
The veteran goalie has been much, much better than his win-loss record says this year. He’s just 1-6-0 through seven starts on the young season, but he does boost a 2.73 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. However, only three goalies have faced more shots this season than Miller, and he has at least a game on the three goalies in front of him. T
he Sabres just aren’t very good defensively, and they struggle mightily in the puck possession battle. Buffalo is sixth in the league in shots allowed per 60 minutes, and
You add that up, and it’s just not easy for a goalie to succeed.
2:15 p.m.: If Chad Johnson’s first start with the Bruins goes horribly awry, at least there probably won’t be a ton of people paying much attention.
The backup goaltender will indeed make his first start of the season — and his first with the Bruins — on Wednesday night in Buffalo. While most of New England will be focused on the Red Sox in the World Series which begins Wednesday night, Johnson will be looking to push the Bruins to 6-2-0 on the season.
The start will be Johnson’s first appearance since April 18 where he lost a 1-0 overtime decision to the St. Louis Blues as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes. Johnson has appeared in 10 NHL games in his career, which began during the 2009-10 season. He’s 3-2-3 with a 1.97 goals against average and .929 save percentage for his career.
8 a.m.: There are 30 teams in the NHL, and 27 of them have played more games this season than the Bruins have. While the Bruins aren’t necessarily into the teeth of their schedule yet, business is going to start to pick up, and that starts with a tilt Wednesday in Buffalo.
The Bruins will are about to play their first back-to-back set, and that begins with their first meeting of the season against the Sabres on Wednesday night. It’s probably a welcomed change for a B’s team that has already seen layoffs of two, three and four days at different points of their schedule since they began the season on Oct. 3. They’ll play Wednesday in Buffalo before heading home Thursday to face the San Jose Sharks.
If you’re going to ease into your first back-to-back of the season, there are few teams you’d rather do so against than the Sabres. They’re the owners of the league’s worst record with eight losses, and Ron Rolston’s bunch has already has a goal differential of minus-15. Buffalo’s only win of the season was a shootout win over the New York Islanders on Oct. 15.
So the Bruins are probably the last team the Sabres want to see coming to town. The B’s are rested, as they haven’t played since Saturday, and that was arguably their best game of the season. Boston completed a sweep of its first Florida swing of the season with a commanding 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. The Bruins enter play on Wednesday with a 5-2-0 record and a plus-10 goal differential.
Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m.
