FINAL: Sabres 3, Bruins 1 - Bruins outplayed all night by Buffalo, McAvoy leaves early

The Bruins fell to the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Thursday night ending a three-game winning streak. Charlie McAvoy got elbowed to the face early in the third period and did not return. The Bruins got outplayed and out hustled all night. 

The first period saw Boston get outshot 19-5. The Sabres had scored a goal in the first period that was waved off after review due to goalie interference. 

Buffalo got on the board first in the second period thanks to a goal from JJ Peterka 1:18 into the period. Buffalo added onto the scoreboard at the 16:47 mark with a goal from Tage Thompson to make it 2-0. 

Brad Marchand answered back for the Bruins :38 after to cut the deficit to 2-1. Marchand has now scored  each of the B's last five goals dating back to December 2nd at Toronto. 

The third period started with Charlie McAvoy getting elbowed to the face and not returning for the rest of the game.The Bruins had some chances to tie the game but Devon Levi kept denying them in net. Fredrik Olofsson gave Buffalo a big insurance goal at the 11:16 mark which gave the Sabres a commanding 3-1 lead. 

Linus Ullmark finished with 33 saves on the night in net. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden where they will face the Arizona Coyotes with face off set for 1p.m. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• B's got out hustled all night and looked a step behind.
• Matt Poitras was a late healthy scratch. Something to keep an eye on for Saturday. 
• Charlie McAvoy got elbowed to the head area early in the third period and did not return. Something to keep an eye on in the next couple of days. Hopefully it is nothing too serious. 
• The Bruins gave a nice tribute to Connor Clifton in his return to Boston. 

______________________________

WHO: Sabres (10-14-2) at Bruins (17-4-3)
WHEN: 7p.m. 
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston. 
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

BOSTON
 DeBrusk –  Zacha –  Pastrnak
Marchand-Coyle-Heinen
Van Riemsdyk –  Geekie –  Frederic
Lauko –  Beecher –  Steen

Grzelcyk –  McAvoy
Lindholm –  Carlo
Lohrei –  Shattenkirk

 Ullmark
 Bussi

SABRES

Skinner-Mittelstadt-Thompson
Benson-Cozens-Peterka
Rosen-Jost-Olofsson
Robinson-Krebs-Okposo

Samuelsson - Power
 Johnson - Jokiharju
 Johnson - Clifton

Levi 

PREGAME NOTES

The Bruins welcome in the Buffalo Sabres at 7p.m. tonight at TD Garden where they will look to make it four straight wins. Boston announced earlier today that Derek Forbort has been placed on long-term injured reserve as he deals with a lower-body injury that has been bothering him for most of the season. With Forbort out a few weeks, the B's have recalled Mason Lohrei from Providence. 

"It's a lower-body injury since training camp…I think at one point we gave him five days off and it was doing well,” Jim Montgomery told reporters this morning. “But the nine games in 16 days, just the repetitive demands on the body, it's come back and we're going to give them a little extended time to try and nip this for the rest of the year,” Montgomery continued. Forbort will not be eligible to return until December 31st at the Detroit Red Wings. With Forbort sidelined, Montgomery said that they will rely heavily on Hampus Lindholm and Matt Grzelcyk on the penalty kill.

With Jeremy Swayman feeling under the weather, the Bruins have recalled Brandon Bussi from Providence on an emergency basis and will backup Linus Ullmark tonight in net. 

The Bruins are facing a Buffalo team that enters tonight on a four-game losing streak, most recently losing 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Connor Clifton will make his return to TD Garden tongiht for the first time since leaving in free agency in the summer. The Sabres will be without their number one goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen due to an illness, which means that Eric Comrie will get the start. Kyle Okposo is one point away from recording number 600 for his career. Victor Olofsson has recorded seven points in his last eight games, including three multi-assist performances. Jeff Skinner leads Buffalo in goals (11) and JJ Peterka is right behind him (10). Casey Mittelstadt leads the Sabres in points (22) and Rasmus Dahlin is next (21).