A Shootout Loss Spoiled An Otherwise Unforgettable Night At TD Garden

There are very few things in professional sports during the regular season that give me goosebumps but tonight was one of the those rare occasions. The Bruins returned to the TD Garden ice for the first time since the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday and even though they lost 3-2 to the Sabres in a shootout, the pregame ceremonies, national anthem and chants during the game were things I'll never forget.

It wasn't all bad for Boston (26-11-5) who are winless (0-2-1) in their last three games but still clinched a playoff spot for the sixth straight season with the point. They are also tied with Montreal for first place in the Northeast Division although the B's have one game in hand. Ryan Miller (41 saves) stole the show with Cody Hodgson tying it with 27 seconds left in regulation and Drew Stafford scoring the lone shootout goal for Buffalo (19-19-6).

Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron were back in the lineup and each looked like they hadn't missed any time. Wade Redden made a predictably anonymous debut but Chris Kelly (1 goal, 1 assist) and Daniel Paille (1 goal, 1 assist) surprisingly carried the offensive load for Boston. Paille scored his ninth goal of the season at 5:45 of the first period after a feed from Kelly behind the net. Miller got a piece of the shot but it went over the line.

Thomas Vanek scored the first of two power play goals for Buffalo at 18:20. He tipped Christian Ehrhoff's wrist shot from the point past Anton Khudobin (30 saves; 9-3-1). Kelly helped Boston regain the lead at 14:48 of the second period with his third goal of the season. Paille and Andrew Ference assisted on Kelly's dogged effort to follow his own rebounds, the only real way to beat Miller.

With 48 seconds left, Ference was called for delay of game (putting the puck over the glass) and the Sabres made it count when Hodgson tipped in Vanek's pass. After a scoreless overtime, Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand were all stopped by Miller in the shootout. Khudobin stoned Vanek and Nathan Gerbe but Stafford got the job done.

It was a rough end to a long and very emotional night but with this type of effort (and better finishing), the Bruins will be fine. The Pittsburgh Steamrollers, I mean Penguins (33-10-0) come to the Garden on Friday (7 p.m., NESN) for their only regular season meeting in the Hub. Pittsburgh beat Boston twice in March at CONSOL Energy Center in the same weird week. Two points against the Pens, who have won five straight to run away with the Eastern Conference, would go a long way for Boston's shaky confidence.

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Well It's A Good Thing That The Bruins Won't See The Sabres In The Playoffs This Season

For whatever reason, in every sport there are always teams that aren't very good yet they match up well with certain quality opponents. The Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins seem to be living proof of that sloppy lede. Boston (8-2-2) suffered their second regulation loss of the season tonight, 4-2 against Buffalo (6-8-1) at the First Niagara Center. The Sabres improved to 2-1 against the B's so far this season (with two games to go) and they pinned that other regulation loss on Boston as well.

The weird part is that the Bruins had just won 3-1 on Sunday in Buffalo (sweet scheduling: half of the Bruins games have been against the Rangers and Sabres) but this time Anton Khudobin (22 saves; 2-1-0) couldn't get another road win, not that it was really his fault. For starters, Ryan Miller (30 saves; 6-6-1) was again spectacular with the help from his goal posts which the B's hit three times.

After Drew Stafford scored 3:24 into the contest, Boston seemed to be in control. Dougie Hamilton notched his first career NHL goal, on the power-play no less to tie it at one at 17:56 of the first period. David Krejci and Tyler Seguin had the assists on Hamilton's one-timed bomb.

The B's dominated in the second period (outshooting the Sabres 17-6) and they were rewarded with a lucky bounce of the puck. Hamilton intentionally hit the puck off the glass but it dropped to Rich Peverley who batted it out of the air for his second goal of the season. Dennis Seidenberg had the other assist at 2:29. Boston should have been up by a few goals but it still had to be fun to hear the miserable Buffalo fans boo their team off the ice after the second period ended.

Buffalo came out in the third period motivated though and just like on January 31 (when they closed on a 4-0 run), the Sabres ran the Bruins off the ice with three unanswered goals. Khudobin wasn't to blame, the defense in front of him couldn't have choked more in one period (slight exaggeration). Tyler Myers got to play in this game (after being a healthy scratch lately) and he tied it up off a rebound at 2:03. Christian Ehrhoff took advantage of a sloppy clearing attempt to pot the go-ahead goal at 9:02. Cody Hodgson added an insurance tally at 11:45 after Myers drove behind the net then flipped it to him. Ugly. The Bruins were outshot 10-3 in the frame.

This disappointing loss was the start of a five-game road trip for the B's, remember they won't be back at TD Garden until February 28 (cue the sad music). Next up, they're in Winnipeg on Sunday night (6 p.m., NESN). Boston sleepwalked through a 2-1 shootout win against the Jets (5-7-1) in the second game of the season at the Garden.

2/17: Lucic will miss tonight's game in Winnipeg, he returned to Boston to deal with an undisclosed personal matter. That means Jay Pandalfo will make his Bruins debut with Rich Peverley getting bumped up to the first line and Daniel Paille shifting to the third line.

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Sabres Make A Statement In Their First Game Against The Bruins This Season

After playing great hockey for almost two weeks, the Bruins were due for a serious letdown. It actually only basically occurred for half a game but it turned a 3-1 Boston (5-1-1) lead into an embarrassing 7-4 loss to Buffalo (3-3-1) tonight at TD Garden. It was the first of five meetings between the Northeast Division rivals in the regular season so the B's will have plenty of opportunities to fix their plethora of mistakes. Boston dropped their first game at home (4-1-0) while also falling in regulation for the first time in 2013.

It sounds weird saying it since Tuukka Rask (25 saves; 4-1-1) allowed six goals but he was the least of Boston's worries on this bizarre night. All their defensemen were the issue since they couldn't do anything right and allowed a million odd-man rushes for the Sabres. Thomas Vanek (3 goals, 2 assists; 8th career hat trick) along with his linemates Cody Hodgson (1 goal, 2 assists) and Tyler Ennis (1 goal, 1 assist) each had multiple points.

Brad Marchand had a pair of goals while Rich Peverley and David Krejci also scored for Boston. Ryan Miller (38 saves) survived a shaky start to earn the road win. The odds of the Bruins collectively playing this bad are long so what we should worry about more is the health of Shawn Thornton. He was sacrificed to giant John Scott in a first period "fight" that ended with Thornton getting his face pounded. He left the game and didn't return (my uneducated guess is a concussion). Let's hope I'm wrong but he seemed wobbly when he was skating to the penalty box.

After a dull first period, things really opened up in the second with both teams potting three goals apiece. Vanek started it (of course) by slamming in a one-timer from Hodgson and Jason Pominville at 1:38. Peverley (1st of the season) tied it with a snipe off the post/crossbar and in at 5:12, Daniel Paille and Chris Kelly had the assists. A little over three minutes apart, Marchand notched his goals. First, he made a great toe drag around Buffalo's defense then put a backhander behind Miller with an assist to Patrice Bergeron. Then he used a screen from birthday boy (21!) Tyler Seguin to score the other, Bergeron and Seguin had the helpers.

A 5-on-3 for Buffalo changed the momentum as Vanek cut it to 3-2 with a deft tip in from Christian Ehrhoff and Ennis at 16:46. Ennis tied it at three thanks to a nice setup from Vanek with Marcus Foligno pulling the second assist. David Krejci (2nd of the season) wrestled the lead back one more time for the B's at 1:45 of the third period. He looked like he was going to pass but he went right at Miller instead, Nathan Horton had the assist. The Sabres kicked into high gear as Alexander Sulzer scored on a shot from the point, Hodgson got a goal, Vanek completed his hat trick and Pominville added an empty-netter.

Boston would be best served to put this one behind them quickly. It was a nightmare third period but only one game after six mostly very solid contests before it. Their next two games are on the road, against other Northeast Division teams. They actually don't return to the Garden until next Saturday. Three games in nine days is the slowest stretch of their season. On Saturday night (7 p.m., NESN) they'll visit Toronto (4-3-0, 3rd in Northeast Division). It's a new year but typically the last few seasons the Bruins have owned the Maple Leafs.

UPDATE 2/1: Thornton is expected to miss 7-10 days due to a concussion. Forward Jamie Tardiff was called up from Providence to take his spot, he was leading the P Bruins in scoring (21 goals, 9 assists) and is expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow night in Toronto. Krejci and Bergeron were given maintenance days off today while Daniel Paille missed practice. Paille will remain in Boston this weekend to heal from the high stick to the face that he suffered in the third period (he never returned) last night.

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