BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Sabres 3 (OT) - Coyle wins it in OT as Bruins open 2022 with comeback victory

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime win over the Sabres with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

A third-period rally helped the Bruins avoid a sour start to the new year — with Charlie Coyle finally ending things in overtime to hand Boston a 4-3 comeback win over the Sabres at TD Garden.

Despite a frustrating opening 40 minutes in which the B’s were plagued by many of the same ol’ flaws that hampered them in 2021, Boston’s secondary scoring finally started landing some punches in the third — with both Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall lighting the lamp in the period to force OT. 

Coyle snapped home his eighth goal of the season just 34 seconds into OT to secure two points in the standings. Craig Smith also scored for the Bruins, who improve to 15-10-2 on the season. Linus Ullmark stopped 21 of the 24 shots that came his way in the victory.

In a sequence that we’ve seen play out countless times before this year, the Bruins entered the first intermission with an edge in shots on goal (13-5) but were trailing on the scoreboard — with Vinnie Hinostroza scoring the lone goal of the opening period with a shot that glanced off of Foligno in the slot. 

Smith evened up the score just 3:47 into the second period, but a pair of penalties on Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek stunted whatever momentum the B’s were able to generate. 

Even though Boston eventually negated the extended 5-on-3 sequence, Jeff Skinner eventually put the visitors ahead once again at 11:32 in the second, burying a puck after Boston’s top line failed to clear the biscuit down low. 

While Boston’s power play sputtered, the Sabres padded their lead in the final minute of the middle frame, with Alex Tuch snapping a puck past Ullmark on the man advantage to put Boston in a two-goal hole.

But Boston surged back from the drop of the puck in the third, with Foligno finally burying his first tally of the season at 3:24 in the period off of a strong net drive from Jake DeBrusk.

Less than two minutes later, Hall secured the equalizer, snapping home a puck from Grade-A ice for his first 5v5 tally in over two months.

Despite a late push from Buffalo, Boston eventually forced the extra period of play, with Coyle adding yet another tally from the B’s bottom-six unit to hand Boston the victory. 

FOUR UP

Marchand-Bergeron-Smith line: As we noted yesterday, just about any line anchored by two all-world talents in Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand is still going to be pretty damn good — regardless of who is slotting in at right wing. Smith sure seemed like a natural fit on that line beyond just his second-period tally, extending O-zone possessions with his frantic forechecking efforts. 

Taylor Hall: That third-period equalizer had to feel good for Hall — who had the patience and willingness to drive into Grade-A ice before snapping the puck past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Whether it be a knack for being too pass-happy or uncorking shots from low-danger ice, Saturday was a great change of pace for Hall, who desperately needs to get rolling here in 2022.

Coyle Line: It was great to see some bottom-six forwards start gaining some traction in this one. While Coyle was the OT hero and Foligno finally got the monkey off his back, DeBrusk was also noticeable on a number of his shifts — with the winger regularly driving to the net and mucking things up with the opposition. Foligno’s goal doesn’t happen if DeBrusk isn’t pushing the puck down low.

Charlie McAvoy: Ho hum - another fantastic game for McAvoy. 24:22 of ice time, three assists, four shots on goal and one block. It was great to see depth scoring breakthrough — but you also need your best players to step up in games like this. McAvoy delivered.

THREE DOWN

Bergeron Line: Yes, Boston’s revamped first line was very strong for most of the contest and should earn plenty more reps together moving forward. But that trio and Boston’s top D pair of McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk will also likely want to burn the game film when looking at the sequence leading up to Skinner’s second-period goal. A lot of failed clears and self-inflicted miscues in a short amount of time.

Coyle Line: Much like the Bergeron line, Boston’s third line had a lot of good — but also some ugly sequences — in this game. Buffalo’s opening tally was a brutal stretch in particular, with DeBrusk failing to get a puck deep and Foligno getting lost in no man's land just before Hinostroza lit the lamp. 

Power play: This game wouldn’t have even needed overtime had the B’s power-play unit delivered. Boston failed to convert on all four of its chances on the man advantage, prompting Bruce Cassidy to eventually swap out Foligno at the netfront spot on PP1 in favor of Coyle.

LOOSE PUCKS

B’s still have plenty to work on

Well, what a difference about 21-ish minutes of hockey can make, right?

For most of Saturday’s matchup, it looked as though this was the same tired product that we’ve seen for most of the 2021-22 season — with Boston out-chancing and outshooting an opponent, but not generating much of anything on the scoresheet. 

Thankfully, instead of penning a column that we’ve already posted far too many times this year when it comes to Boston’s lack of finish and a dearth of secondary scoring, we can finally hit home on a few positives — with Cassidy’s latest lineup reshuffle appearing to pay dividends.

All things considered, two points is still two points and good on the Bruins for building some momentum amid this hectic stretch. But still, it was far from a perfect product on the ice — with an ugly power-play performance and far too many low-danger attempts in the early going making things easy for a Sabres team that Boston should be taking care of rather handily. 

Here’s hoping the Bruins we see in 2022 is more like the club that punched back and executed in the third period and overtime on Saturday — rather than the frustrating crew that toiled around for most of the first two periods of action.

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will be right back at it on Sunday afternoon — with the B’s set to head to Detroit to battle the Red Wings. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.