The Bruins were without Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy on Friday night, but that didn’t seem to slow them down.
Patrice Bergeron potted two goals in Boston’s 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Bergeron now has six goals in his last three games, and three straight contests with multiple goals. Brandon Carlo scored the empty-net tally.
Jaroslav Halak was stellar in net, stopping all 26 shots. Linus Ullmark denied 22 of the 24 shots he faced.
With the win, the Bruins moved to 23-7-9, while the Sabres fell to 17-15-7.
Here’s how it all went down:
B’S CAPITALIZE LATE
Buffalo came out of the gate hot and peppered Halak with 10 shots on goal through the first 12 minutes to Boston’s five. The B’s couldn’t get much going on their first power play of the game, as they didn’t register a shot on net during the man-advantage.
The Sabres nearly went up 1-0 with 3:36 left in the opening period when Marcus Johansson ripped one from the slot, but Halak made a beauty of a glove save.
No, no, JoJo.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/4h1QmZIzf8
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 28, 2019
The Bruins’ second power play looked much different than their first as they took a 1-0 lead with just 21 seconds left in the period. Brad Marchand passed the puck to David Pastrnak who dished it to Bergeron, and the first-line center found the back of the net for the fifth time in three games.
Bumper Bergy.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/GeoOinPGGA
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 28, 2019
Buffalo held a slim 11-8 shot advantage after 20 minutes.
BERGERON GETS NO. 2
Bergeron nearly doubled Boston’s lead six minutes into the middle period when he was in the zone all alone but was robbed by the post.
Both the Bruins and Sabres had prime chances to score, including Boston spending 42 seconds in the offensive zone on a power play, but both Halak and Ullmark stood tall and stopped everything that came their way.
That all changed in the final two minutes of the period when Bergeron connected for his second goal of the game. Some incredible puck movement commenced after Pastrnak took it from Jimmy Vesey and dished it over to Marchand who passed to a net-front Bergeron for the tally.
This was something.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/VE4MKD9aUb
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 28, 2019
Boston was heavily favored in shots 12-5 in the second after a strong period by the B’s.
B’S SEAL IT
Things got a little chippy five minutes into the third when Sam Reinhart was bodied by Connor Clifton and made a run for the defenseman in front of the net after the whistle was blown. The two hit the ice before getting back up, but Clifton connected with some hard right hooks.
Both players went to the box for two minutes for roughing.
Halak made some timely saves while the B’s were on the penalty kill to keep it a 2-0 game despite the Sabres storming the net.
Boston put just three pucks on net through the first 16 minutes of the third, but strong defensive play, Halak stopping everything in his path and Carlo scoring an empty-net goal helped lead the B’s to the shutout win.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return home Sunday for the back end of a home-and-home series against Buffalo. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET.
