Boston, Mass. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Though the path to the finish was different on Thursday night, the Buffalo Sabres suffered a third-consecutive overtime loss, this time to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden, 4-3.
Despite boasting an early shots advantage, the Sabres got into some penalty trouble and the Bruins made them pay.
With 13:07 gone in the opening period, forward Morgan Geekie started the scoring for Boston with a shot just under the cross bar past Sabres goalie Alex Lyon.
The Bruins extended the lead two minutes later, courtesy of forward David Pastrnak.
The veteran winger forced a turnover in his own end, and went headway for a 2-on-1 rush the other direction. He took the shot in lieu of a pass, and beat Lyon to sink the Sabres into a 2-0 deficit.
It wasn't until there was four minutes left in the middle stanza that the Sabres were able to break through on the scoreboard.
It was the captain leading by example, as Rasmus Dahlin's one-timer on a power play made it 2-1, Bruins.
Dahlin's goal seemed to add to some momentum for the Sabres, as they were finally reaping benefits of a strong shot mentality.
Unfortunately, Boston tacked on a demoralizer just 20 seconds before the second intermission when forward Mark Kastelic powered home a loose puck in the crease that Lyon lost sight of.
Josh Doan and the Sabres did not hang their heads, though, and got right back to work in the third period.
Seven minutes into the final frame, Doan caught a puck from high out of the air, tossed it perfectly onto his blade, and scored to make it a 3-2 contest.
Then with 5:35 left in regulation, the Sabres climbed all the way back to even the score.
Dahlin located Alex Tuch flying down the slot, and the give-and-go paid dividends as Tuch tied the game at 3-3.
Tuch's goal proved doubly large, as it ended up guaranteeing the team another point, as Buffalo headed to its third-consecutive overtime contest.
Buffalo had to earn the point in crunch time, as winger Jordan Greenway took a minor penalty with 1:17 left in regulation.
In overtime, the song remained the same.
The offense tried to do too much with too little support, and it led to numbers the other way. On this night it was Dahlin, who slipped while he was alone trying to create a chance in the offensive zone.
The miscue resulted in the game-winning goal, as Bruins forward Marat Khusnutdinov fired a shot that beat Lyon high to the glove side, as Sabres winger Jack Quinn was left to defend a 3-on-1 Boston rush.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
BOS: 13:07 - Morgan Geekie (9) PPG (David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha); 15:07 - David Pastrnak (7) (Unassisted)
Second Period:
BUF: 16:01 - Rasmus Dahlin (1) PPG (Zach Benson, Tage Thompson)
BOS: 19:39 - Mark Kastelic (3) (Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly)
Third Period:
BUF: 7:00 - Josh Doan (4) (Alex Tuch, Owen Power); 14:25 - Alex Tuch (4) (Rasmus Dahlin, Ryan McLeod)
BOS: NONE
Overtime:
BUF: NONE
BOS: 2:07 - Marat Khusnutdinov (1) (Fraser Minten)
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Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Marat Khusnutdinov - BOS
2.) David Pastrnak - BOS
3.) Joonas Korpisalo - BOS
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What's next:
The Sabres return home to host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. Puck drop at KeyBank Center is set for 7 p.m. with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.