The Boston Bruins entered Thursday night looking for their second straight win, while the Buffalo Sabres were attempting to right the ship.
Buffalo entered Thursday with a November record of 1-6-1, and that would only get worse as Boston handed the Sabres their third consecutive loss with a 3-2 effort.
Brad Marchand potted his 14th and 15th goals of the season in the win, while David Pastrnak added his league-leading 20th of the year in the third.
Tuukka Rask stopped 36 shots in the win. Linus Ullmark turned away 24 for Buffalo in the loss.
With the win, the Bruins moved to 14-3-5, while the Sabres fell to 10-9-3.
Here’s how it all went down.
SABRES COME OUT BUZZING
The Bruins were caught on their heels right off the bat, as the Sabres came out of the gates flying around the sheet. Five minutes in, their energy resulted in a 1-0 lead, as Rasmus Ristolainen noted his first goal of the year on the power play.
Buffalo didn’t slow down, outshooting Boston 13-0 in the game’s first 10 minutes. It took the Bruins just over 12 minutes to register their first shot on net.
Despite the lack of offensive buzz early on, Boston still managed to knot the game at one on their second shot of the night. Marchand redirected a Zdeno Chara slapshot in front of the net to get the Bruins on the board.
Just passing through. ? @Bmarch63 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/OZRk8iqvNl
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 22, 2019
Boston snuck out of the first with a 1-1 tie. Buffalo led 17-4 in shots after 20 minutes.
B’S NAB LEAD
The Bruins found themselves on the kill 4:44 into the second frame when Matt Grzelcyk went off for a hook. Boston was able to avoid giving up a second power play goal, killing the penalty without much issue.
Buffalo continued to outplay the B’s early in the period, but Boston once again found the back of the net thanks to Marchand’s second of the night. Grzelcyk ripped a wrister from the slot, which Ullmark kicked aside. But Marchand was right there to bury the rebound, giving Boston a 2-1 lead with 5:55 left in the second.
Cleaning it up.@Bmarch63 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/r3zrm9njaN
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 22, 2019
Boston flipped the table in the shot department, winning the battle 14-7 during the game’s second 20-minute stint.
PASTA GETS 20
The Bruins’ impressive power play took advantage of a Jake McCabe holding penalty early in the third, as Pastrnak, stop us if you’ve heard this before, scored on the man-advantage to put the Bruins up 3-1. His NHL-leading 20th of the year wasn’t as pretty as some of the others, but Pastrnak was rewarded for hanging around the net with a juicy rebound, which he promptly buried.
That's 20.@pastrnak96 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/6pgsyecq86
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 22, 2019
Brendan Montour got the Sabres within one at the 12:58 mark with a shot from the point that Rask likely will want to have back.
Buffalo rekindled its first-period intensity in the closing minutes, but the Sabres weren’t able to snap their losing streak, as Rask and the Bruins denied a few last-minute chances to put a bow on the win.
UP NEXT
The Bruins welcome the Minnesota Wild to TD Garden on Saturday night, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET.
