BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Sabres 0 - Bergeron continues hot streak, battered blue line stands tall vs. Buffalo

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-0 win over the Sabres in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

TWO THINGS TO KNOW

Bergeron leads the way … again: Despite missing seven straight games due to a nagging lower-body injury last month, Patrice Bergeron doesn’t seem like he’s missed a step since returning to the lineup back on Dec. 9. 

Since slotting back in at his usual spot atop Boston’s forward corps, Bergeron has been a goal-scoring machine — tallying seven goals and eight points over the past eight games entering Friday’s road matchup against the Sabres.

The script didn’t deviate all that much up at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, as Bergeron led the way in Boston’s 3-0 victory over the Sabres — scoring a pair of goals in what stands as the B’s first set of back-to-back wins since back on Dec. 1-3.

On a night in which the Sabres primarily controlled the puck during 5v5 play (a 55.95% shot share), the Bergeron Line once again did most of the heavy lifting up front. In the 10:51 of 5v5 ice time in which the Bergeron line was utilized, Boston held a 16-7 edge in shot attempts, 9-4 edge in scoring chances and most importantly — a 1-0 edge in 5v5 tallies.

Along with Bergeron’s 5v5 goal in the closing minutes of the second period, the B’s top pivot also gave the power play a shot in the arm with a tally at 19:38 in the opening stanza. While Boston still needs to generate a bit more elsewhere across the roster (where have you heard this before?), the Bergeron line is at least clicking on a regular basis once again, and is carrying Boston out of this recent mid-season skid.

Patchwork blue line stands tall: With both Charlie McAvoy and Torey Krug ruled out of Friday’s matchup, things were looking a bit iffy on the blue line up in Buffalo, especially lower down on the depth chart. 

Jaroslav Halak stood tall with a 26-save shutout, but Boston’s makeshift D corps also played a key role in the B’s clean sheet on Friday, headlined by the team’s new top D pairing of Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo. 

In Chara + Carlo’s 17:52 of 5v5 TOI together, the Bruins were only outshot, 8-6, and only relinquished three high-danger scoring chances — pretty impressive stuff, considering that they were primarily matched up against Jack Eichel’s line and only had 18.75% of their faceoffs in the offensive zone. 

Add in an encouraging showing from Matt Grzelyck-Connor Clifton in the second D pair (58.62% shot share in 14:34 of 5v5 ice time) and strong outings from both John Moore and Steven Kampfer, and Boston’s blue line is primed to weather the storm for however long it takes for both McAvoy and Krug to get back up to speed. 

THREE UP: 

Patrice Bergeron: Make that six goals in the last three games for Bergeron — who has tallied at least two goals in each of those matchups. Bergeron, who is now up to 17 goals in 30 games, is just the fifth player in Bruins’ history to score multiple goals in at least three straight games — and the first since Cam Neely accomplished the feat in 1988-89. 

Jaroslav Halak: After relinquishing a third-period lead in his last start back on Saturday against the Predators, Halak rebounded in impressive fashion on Friday, stopping all 26 shots that came his way en route to the 50th shutout of his career. 

Brandon Carlo: Pressed into top D pairing duties and unfavorable starts when it comes to O-zone ice, Carlo played a key role in negating Eichel and the Sabres’ dynamic top line — while also getting rewarded with an empty-net tally at 18:06 in the third. 

TWO DOWN: 

Jimmy Vesey: When you’re matched up against the Bergeron Line, you can’t shoot yourself in the foot with costly turnovers in your own zone. Vesey learned this the hard way in the second period, as the B’s top line buried its second goal of the night off of a tic-tac-toe sequence at 18:26. Remember the summer of 2016 — in which a bidding war for Vesey was one of the top stories of the offseason? Bruins dodged a bullet there. 

Third Line: After an encouraging showing against the Capitals, Friday was a bit more of a muted showing from Boston’s new-look third line — with the Bruins out-attempted, 10-2, in the 10:01 of 5v5 ice time that Charlie Coyle, Sean Kuraly and Anders Bjork logged. 

PLAY OF THE GAME: Can’t make mistakes like this when the 63-37-88 line is out there on the ice. The Bergeron line can make you pay in a hurry. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1210736655084089344

PARTING THOUGHT: Sam Reinhart was the latest in a long line of skaters to be introduced to the force of nature that is Cliffy Hockey. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1210744343385927681

LOOKING AHEAD: The Bruins will return to TD Garden on Sunday night to complete their home-and-home slate with Buffalo. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.