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Quick Hits: Sabres at Bruins

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The Buffalo Sabres were in Boston, Massachusetts tonight to faceoff against their long time divisional foe, the Boston Bruins. Buffalo has been playing well as of late, with wins in four of their last 5 matchups. Boston with three wins in their last four. With both squads hanging towards the bottom of the Atlantic division, the two points available tonight would prove to be extremely important for further implications later in the season.

Robin Lehner got the call for the Sabres, while Tukka Rask stood opposite of him.

Buffalo found themselves on the powerplay first after earning a hooking call five minutes into the first. There was both good and bad with their first man-advantage. With a good scoring opportunity that was denied by Rask, the game remained at a 0-0 tie. Ryan O’Reilly found himself as the next man to sit in the penalty box. Called for tripping Brad Marchand at 10:29 of the first, Boston was on the powerplay. Both teams decided to alternate penalties in the first, as Boston earned another penalty. This time, Ryan Spooner for slashing. Boston with the successful penalty kill and a snoozer of a first period came to a close with both teams yet to find the scoreboard.

Four minutes into the second frame, O’Reilly lifted his stick into the face of Zdeno Chara and found himself in the penalty box for the second time tonight, as well as the entire season. After a rebound off Robin Lehner’s mask and a scramble in front of goal, Brad Marchand ripped a shot home from the top of the slot and put Boston up 1-0.

Shortly after the Boston goal, Zemgus Girgensons clipped David Backes in the face with the blade of his stick, cutting Backes’ lower lip and earning a four minute double minor. When it rains, it pours. With 2:34 Jake McCabe earned a penalty for tripping. On his way to the penalty box, McCabe slammed his stick against the boards, earning him ANOTHER 2 minutes. This in total would give Boston a full 2:34 5-on-3 man advantage. David Krejci made the Sabres pay with a one-timer from 30 feet out. Buffalo still with 2:50 left on the McCabe penalties.

Matt Beleskey decided to jump into the scoring party. After a lazy turnover behind the Buffalo goal, Riley Nash swung the puck towards Robin Lehner, the puck eventually finding the skate of Dimitry Kulikov and tipping past Lehner. 3-0 Boston.

Some good work by Zemgus Girgensons around the Boston blueliners lead to not only an excellent scoring chance, but also a Sabres powerplay. Brandon Carlo for holding. With six seconds left in the Sabres man advantage, the second period came to a close with Buffalo trailing Boston 3-0.

HEY, @WOLFEBLTD. CAN I WATCH MNF NOW?!

[Editors Note: No, Samson.]

Opening the final period, Derek Grant earned a goaltender interference penalty after crashing into the Boston goal in the middle of an offensive rush. The Bruins did not convert. Still 3-0 Boston.

Derek Grant and Matt Beleskey decided to exchange pleasantries and drop the gloves after play had ended in front of Robin Lehner. Grant was up to the task, but the fight had diffused to ice level rather quickly. Both served fighting majors, while Grant served an extra 2 minutes for interference.

Just like that, David Pastrnak slammed home a big rebound off Lehner to make it 4-0. This was far from Buffalo’s night. The remainder of the third period was fairly quiet, with a few opportunities by each side. The clock finally ran to zero with Dan Byslma and co. running for the door.

Final score Boston: 4, Buffalo: 0.

The Sabres will be at KeyBank center Wednesday night as they host the Ottawa Senators.

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    • Discipline… Or lack thereof.

The Sabres found themselves in the penalty box quite a bit tonight, setting the tone for most of the second period. Two high-stickings and a misconduct proved to be too much for Buffalo to escape unscathed from the anemic Boston powerplay.

    • Execution

The Sabres had a handful of chances to find the back of the net. Most notably a Brian Gionta breakaway that was denied by Tuuka Rask. Before tonight, the Sabres were DEEP in the bottom third of the league in scoring. Tonight’s effort did not help in the least. Getting Jack Eichel and Evander Kane back in the lineup will happen not a moment too soon.

    • Robin Lehner

I think we all know the story by now. Robin Lehner can play. But his rebound game needs work. Quite a bit, actually. He was the victim of a crazy double bounce off his mask and stick. But outside of that, Boston could have put away another 2 or 3 goals due to him allowing the puck to ricochet off him and wind up in front of goal for an easy score if it weren’t for a quick stick by one of his defensemen.

    • GO. VOTE. SERIOUSLY PLEASE…?

Tomorrow certainly feels like judgement day for the United States of America. If you don’t know who our current candidates are by now, then where the hell have you been? I’m kidding, of course. You MUST know at least a thing or two by now. Anywho… You know what to do, people.

    • Randy. Moss.

100% unrelated to tonight’s game, but I could watch this on repeat for hours.

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