Without the services of Patrice Bergeron, who was ruled out before warmups due to a lower-body injury and whom Bruce Cassidy called "day-to-day" after the game, the Bruins hoped to make it a clean three-game sweep of the Sabres.
Unfortunately for the B’s it wasn’t meant to be as they played one of their more forgettable games of the season for most of regulation.
The Bruins appeared both physically and mentally fatigued as they lacked energy and execution, resulting in a 5-1 deficit in the latter half of the third period.
To their credit, they battled back and closed Buffalo’s lead to 5-4 before eventually falling 6-4.
Here are three key takeaways from the game.
1. Sloppy and undisciplined first two periods
After a dominant 5-1 win Thursday night that saw the Bruins score three goals in the third period, there was an opportunity for Boston to really dishearten the Sabres if they picked up where they left off.
The Bruins began to do just that when Steven Kampfer gave them a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, but more undisciplined penalties and lazy habits gave the Sabres life and allowed them right back into the game.
Momentum shifted in Buffalo’s favor when Matt Grzelcyk was guilty of an unnecessary tripping penalty nearing the end of the first period. Sam Reinhart cashed in on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle to even the score.
In the second period the Bruins were outworked and out-executed in every phase of the game. Buffalo was faster and harder on pucks and the Bruins were standing around, hoping something would happen. Something did happen -- Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt scored to give the Sabres a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
The Sabres took the lead and grabbed a stranglehold on the game because Boston was soft in coverage and simply weren’t making plays. The puck was treated like a hot-potato when Boston had possession.
2. Rask gets pulled
The Bruins were still in the game at the beginning of the third period despite being out-played and could potentially earn two points if they could swing the momentum.
Hope dwindled when Tuukka Rask allowed a back-breaking goal just over a minute into the third period. After another sloppy sequence from Bruins’ skaters, Arttu Ruotsalainen skated from right to left entering the Boston zone and beat Rask with a wrist shot to give Buffalo a 4-1 lead.
While Rask is one of the last reasons why the Bruins lost the game, there’s no doubt the fourth goal was one he’d like to have back and overall he didn’t have one of his better games.
Jaroslav Halak allowed one goal in relief when Sam Reinhart scored his second power-play goal of the game to give the Sabres a 5-1 lead.
As it turns out, the fourth goal Rask allowed ended up being significant as the Bruins ultimately narrowed the deficit to 5-4 before pulling the goalie.
3. Too little, too late
While the Bruins deserve criticism for being outworked and out-executed by an inferior opponent, they at least deserve a little credit for not giving up and almost battling back from down four goals in the third period.
With Buffalo leading 5-1 with under seven minutes to play in regulation, it was completely expected that the Bruins had waved the white towel and begun looking ahead to the Penguins. However, Nick Ritchie’s second goal in as many games made it 5-2 and all of a sudden gave the Bruins a sliver of hope.
After Ritchie’s goal, the Bruins had renewed energy and started imposing their will and playing with purpose. Kevan Miller and Taylor Hall added goals of their own in the final minutes of regulation to bring the B’s within one.
With the goalie pulled the Bruins could smell blood in the water and aimed for the tying goal to complete an incredible comeback. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be as David Pastrnak whiffed on a pass back to the blue line and Reinhart then iced the game with an empty-netter for the hat trick.
Ultimately, it was exciting to watch the Bruins almost pull off a miracle comeback, but it was more frustrating because it just proved how they weren’t playing for the first 50-plus minutes of the game.
The Sabres were the better team for most of the game and deserved the victory. Hopefully, Friday night served as a lesson to the Bruins that travel and a condensed schedule can’t be an excuse to have an off-night, especially come playoffs.