The Bruins and Sabres faced off for the first time this season Thursday night, and Boston emerged victorious.
The B’s pushed the Sabres’ losing streak to 13 games with a 4-1 win at KeyBank Center. This was Sabres’ first time playing under interim head coach Don Granato after Ralph Krueger was fired Wednesday.
Despite a slip-up in the second, the B’s power play dominated throughout the 60-minute effort. Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak scored on the man advantage, while Greg McKegg and Craig Smith each had even-strength goals.
Kyle Okposo was the only Sabres player to find twine.
Jaroslav Halak pushed away 23 of 24 shots while Carter Hutton stopped 33 of 37.
The B’s improved to 16-8-4 while the Sabres fell to 6-19-4.
Here’s how it all went down.
SOLID START
Boston got on the board early in this one thanks to McKegg’s first goal with the team.
The center tipped one past Hutton off a laser from Matt Grzelcyk to make it 1-0 B’s just three minutes into the game.
The Sabres built momentum throughout the period despite the early blow. Boston outshot Buffalo 11-7, though that gap could have been much bigger had the latter not surged in the final moments of the first.
So for the Sabres’ first period with a new head coach, it wasn’t too bad.
Still, they found themselves down one after 20 minutes.
POWER PLAYS GALORE
The power play was pretty popular in the middle frame.
The B’s went on the man advantage just 25 seconds into the second, but the Sabres wound up tying the game.
Okposo made Boston pay for some lackadaisical power play defense by tipping one in off Grzelcyk’s stick to knot the game at one. It was his first goal of the season.
The Black and Gold went back on the man advantage midway through the period, and DeBrusk capitalized on the high-sticking penalty he drew.
The winger batted the puck out of the air and watched it trickle past Hutton to put Boston back on top.
David Krejci earned his 700th point with the B’s on the play. He is just the eighth player in franchise history to reach that mark.
Colin Miller drew a holding call on Oskar Steen, but Buffalo failed to score on the power play for 19th straight time.
Smith opened up a two-goal lead shortly before intermission with a nice shot from the slot.
CHECKMATE
Boston’s power play just kept rolling.
The Bruins went an early man advantage early for the third straight period, and eventually saw it extend to 5-on-3. Boston had 46 seconds until VIctor Olofsson exited the box, but Pastrnak potted the team’s fourth goal of the game before that could happen.
Boston scored twice on five power play opportunities throughout the game.
The B’s outshot the Sabres 37-24 in their eventual 4-1 victory.
UP NEXT
The Bruins and Sabres will meet again Saturday afternoon at KeyBank Center, with puck drop slated for 1 p.m. ET.
