The Boston Bruins had their four-game winning streak snapped in a 4-2 loss to the lowly Buffalo Sabres Saturday night at TD Garden.
The Bruins had issues in every aspect of the game and couldn’t respond, even with the Sabres’ Jack Eichel out of the game after he suffered what appeared to be a leg injury in the first period.
Everything was off for Boston. The final score could have been a lot worse if not for the play of Tuukka Rask, who finished with 24 saves.
David Backes scored with 59 seconds remaining in regulation to cut Boston's deficit to one goal, but that's as close as the Bruins would come in this one. The Sabres scored an empty-netter with 28.2 seconds remaining.
Pregame notes
Rask will start tonight and Anton Khudobin gets the nod against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday in Newark. Rask is in the midst of a career-best 21-game point streak with a 19-0-2 record in this span. Overall, he's 22-8-4 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. In 21 career games against the Sabres, he's 13-5-1 with a 2.06 GAA and a .934 SP.
Forward Noel Acciari (lower body) will be out of the lineup for the seventh consecutive game. It's possible he could return on Sunday against the Devils, according to Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. Defenseman Kevan Miller skated on his own prior to the team's optional skate Saturday morning at Warrior Ice Arena. He's been sidelined with an upper-body injury and this will be the fourth consecutive game he's missed.
Observations from third period.
- Backes scores to cut deficit to one goal with 59 seconds remaining in regulation.
- Bruins' execution rate in all areas is not good.
- Huge play by Brandon Carlo to break up Evander Kane on that partial breakaway.
- Gonna be 4-on-4 for 1:48.
- Everything is just off for the Bruins. Passing has been awful.
- Carlo and Zdeno Chara as a pair. Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy now.
- Rask already with two timely saves in this period. Players in front of him owe their goalie a goal for his efforts.
- That's a great effort by Jake DeBrusk by diving and trying to pitchfork the puck past Johnson.
- Bruins going on the PP. Critical.
- Bruins are 1-10-3 this season when trailing after two periods.
- Someone needs to make his presence felt before the end of the period. Somebody. Anybody.
- Another turnover. Another odd-man rush. Another goal by the Sabres for a 3-1 lead with 1:11 remaining in the second.
- Patrice Bergeron has created a new style of stick check. Old school equals lift stick and take puck. More often than not this season, he gains body position and at the last second he poke checks the puck into open space and retrieves it. Pretty impressive.
- Time to wake up.
- Good rush by DeBrusk, who feeds Ryan Spooner in front for the goal. Boston down 2-1 with 5:21 left in second.
- Bad bounces and bad turnovers. If not for a few posts, the Bruins could be down 4-0 in this game.
- Scott Wilson with grabs a loose puck in the slot and beats Rask. Buffalo with a 2-0 lead with 7:15 remaining in the period.
- Sam Reinhart now goes to the room after blocking a Chara shot.
- Matt Grzelcyk deserves a goal in this game.
- Again, the Bruins allow the first goal of the game.
- Another bad turnover, this one on the O-zone blue line and the Sabres capitalize as Kane beats Rask on a breakaway.
- Sabres are playing a heavy game against the Bruins.
- No Jack Eichel to start the second period for Sabres.
- Bruins registered seven shots in the first period with six of them all from defensemen. Only forward to record a shot was Spooner. Carlo had two, while Chara, Krug, Grzelcyk and Adam McQuaid had one each.
- That dominate zone time by the Bruins was due to McQuaid's ability to pinch and keep the puck deep and then got a line change in the process.
- Eichel to the room after getting tangled up with Grzelcyk behind Boston's net. Had a good angle on the play and Eichel's right leg was caught under him. Eichel was already falling back when Grzelcyk made contact.
- A couple of defensive-end turnovers by the Bruins this period.
- Chad Johnson playing well against his former team.
- Remember that save by Rask on Eichel. Huge stop after Chara turnover.
- Bruins getting the first power play of the game. Bruins are 35-for-159 (22 percent) on the man-advantage this season.
- McQuaid in some discomfort after blocking Evander Kane's shot.
- Keep an eye on Austin Czarnik and how his presence on the fourth line gives that trio a completely different look. It's not a coincidence that Sean Kuraly has three points in last two games.