The Buffalo Sabres were a goal shy of at least getting a point on Sunday night as the blue and gold lost 3-2 to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston.
The home team opened the scoring with 12:39 gone in the first period when a 2-on-1 rush developed as the Bruins rushed into the Sabres' defensive end. Bruins forward Brad Marchand fed linemate David Pastrnak, who beat Linus Ullmark up high for the 1-0 lead. It was Pastrnak's league-leading 29th goal of the season on just the second Boston shot of the night.
That would be the last Bruins shot of the opening period, and remained the only goal scored by either side through 20 minutes of play.
Buffalo found the equalizer with just over 6:30 gone in the second period as this time, the Sabres went in to the Bruins end on a 2-on-1 with Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen. As Reinhart skated up on his off wing, he fed a cross-ice pass to Ristolainen, who's original shot ws stopped by Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, but then Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara knocked the puck into the net as he tried to clear the loose puck from underneath Rask's pads. It was Ristolainen's fourth goal of the season, and his fourth in his last five games at TD Garden.
The Sabres got themselves into some penalty trouble three times in the second period after staying out of the box in the first. Their penalty killing units did well to quiet the league's third-best team on the man advantage.
However, Buffalo was not so lucky in the third period of play as forward Johan Larsson took a pair of minor penalties on the same shift: one for tripping, another for hooking just 83 seconds in.
After standing pat on their first three penalty kills, the Sabres allowed two power play goals in succession to Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk, who scored both goals just 18 seconds apart.
Playing with a delayed penalty in the works more than two minutes later, the Sabres peppered Rask with the extra attacker on the ice and it finally found paydirt.
Ristolainen ripped a shot on Rask, and Curtis Lazar deposited the rebound past the Bruins netminder to cut the deficit in half at 3-2. It was Lazar's second goal of the season, and his first goal since Nov. 14 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
However, Lazar's goal was as close as the Sabres would get late in the contest. The Bruins withstood a late 6-on-4 attack with Buffalo on a power play with Ullmark on the bench, and were able to still edge out the Sabres.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONEBOS: 12:39 - David Pastrnak (29) (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron)
Second Period:
BUF: 6:37 - Rasmus Ristolainen (4) (Sam Reinhart, Marcus Johansson)BOS: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 5:08 - Curtis Lazar (2) (Rasmus Ristolainen, Jack Eichel)BOS: 2:37 - Jake DeBrusk (10) PPG (Steven Kampfer, David Pastrnak); 2:55 - Jake DeBrusk (11) PPG (David Krejci, Steven Kampfer)
Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONEBOS: 2:50 - TEAM (Too many men on the ice - 2 min.); 16:35 - Chris Wagner (Tripping - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: 0:15 - Henri Jokiharju (Tripping - 2 min.); 11:02 - Jimmy Vesey (Delay of game, puck over glass - 2 min.); 14:11 - Evan Rodrigues (Tripping - 2 min.)BOS: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 1:23 - Johan Larsson (Tripping - 2 min.); 1:23 - Johan Larsson (Hooking - 2 min.); 19:43 - Sam Reinhart (Slashing - 2 min.)BOS: 15:51 - Brett Ritchie (Tripping - 2 min.)
Shots On Goal:
BUF: 26 (7, 12, 7)BOS: 22 (2, 11, 9)
Power Plays:
BUF: 0 for 3 (0%)BOS: 2 for 6 (33%)
Goalies:
BUF: Linus Ullmark - 19 savesBOS: Tuukka Rask - 24 saves
Three Stars:
- Jake DeBrusk - BOS
- David Pastrnak - BOS
- Rasmus Ristolainen - BUF
What's Next:
The Sabres return home for the final game on the 2019 calendar against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at KeyBank Center. Puck drop on New Year's Eve is set for 7 p.m. with the Paul William Beltz Pregame Show with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog from (716) Food and Sport starting at 6 p.m. on WGR.
