Facing A Must-Win vs. Buffalo, Boston Comes Through (Barely) 4-3 in OT Thanks to Eriksson

While I will admit that the Sabres have been playing better lately, a loss against them at anytime is still unacceptable, especially when the Bruins are so desperate for points. That's what made Boston's (17-14-3) 4-3 overtime win against Buffalo (13-18-3) this evening at TD Garden so vital to the B's. I know I said it last week when they won at Minnesota but once again, this might have saved Boston's turbulent season.

Boston actually trailed 3-2 with under two minutes left in regulation before Dougie Hamilton (1st career 2-goal game; tied career-high with 3 points) tied it at 18:29 with a top shelf wrister. That set the stage for Loui Eriksson's second straight overtime game-winner (he also did that vs. Wild on Wednesday) at 2:14 of the extra session. Milan Lucic sprung him by chipping the puck ahead and Zdeno Chara started the play from Boston's end so he got the second assist.

There were two games left before Christmas break and both were at the Garden so the B's couldn't afford to drop another game. They improved to 3-0 vs. the Sabres this season (2-0 in OT) with the much-anticipated finale coming on St. Patrick's Day here in Boston, I'll bring the green beer.

The Bruins actually had a power play goal by Reilly Smith called off for the softest goaltender interference that you've ever seen on Eriksson. He barely touched Jhonas Enroth (33 saves) who still had time to recover anyway yet that's not how the refs saw it. No worries though as Hamilton beat Enroth on that same man-advantage. His sixth goal of the season came at 5:52 and it was assisted by Carl Soderberg and Eriksson.

All hell broke loose later in the first period when Matt Bartkowski absolutely annihilated BC's Brian Gionta with a shoulder right to his head. Gionta got knocked out (and left the game) and Bartkowski (playing in his 100th NHL game) ended up in his first NHL fight vs. Marcus Foligno (who ended up leaving with an injury as well). Bartkowski got a game-misconduct and he could be hearing from the league although who knows since he's never been fined or suspended and he's not a dirty player at all.

Former Bruins great Andrej Meszaros tied it at 6:06 of the second period, tapping in a pass from Chris Stewart (reportedly scouted by Boston for a possible trade) and Johan Larsson. It was his first goal as a Sabre and first since last March 30 with Boston vs. another former team (Philadelphia).

It felt like it wasn't the Bruins' night when Buffalo netted only their ninth power play goal of the season (!). Good old Rasmus Ristolainen's shot deflected off Torey Krug's skate past Tuukka Rask (25 saves). Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons (another fantastic name) were credit with the gift assists as Buffalo took the 2-1 lead.

Luckily Boston's fans only had a minute to stew (literally) as Chris Kelly tied it with an old school tip in that bounced off the ice and into the net. Chara and Hamilton assisted on Kelly's third goal of the season which also gave him a four-game point streak (1 goal, 3 assists).

To say I was conflicted by Buffalo's next goal doesn't even begin to explain it. Providence College graduate and Merrimack, NH native Tim Schaller scored his first career NHL goal and point on a wraparound at 1:27 of the third period. It was a beautiful moment with his parents in the stands and for a while, I thought it would stand up as the game-winner. Against any other team, I'd be going nuts for him.

Boston had some crazy zone time in the third period and outshot Buffalo 13-6 but it looked like a useless stat until Hamilton finally tied it up. Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith both had helpers on Hamilton's huge tally. For a team that struggles so much to score, it is bizarre how well that Boston has done in OT this season (5-1 in OT and 2-2 in shootouts). Likewise, the irony that Eriksson has won them two games in the past five days is hilarious since he's one of the easy targets for most people.

The Predators (21-8-2) are in Columbus tomorrow night before visiting Boston on Tuesday (7, NESN), the Sabres also came in on the second night of a back-to-back. Nashville won 3-2 in a shootout last Tuesday at home, the start of Boston's three-game road trip. They are one of the best teams in the NHL and Pekka Rinne is currently the top goaltender so needless to say the B's will have their hands full before they can enjoy a few much-needed days off.

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Any Type of Loss to the Sabres is Pathetic, No Excuses

1-12-5. That was Jhonas Enroth's (29 saves) absurdly poor record coming into tonight's matchup with the Bruins at First Niagara Center. To make it a little more fair, Boston (37-16-5) started Chad Johnson instead of Tuukka Rask who is still recovering from Sochi. Of course, that backfired as Buffalo (17-34-8) won 5-4 in overtime thanks to Loui Eriksson's turnover and Matt D'Agostini's speed to get by a very slow Zdeno Chara (both those guys had also returned from the Olympics).

You can't say that the B's really deserved this though, even against the worst team in the NHL. The Sabres scored first on a power play goal by my man Zemgus Girgensons (best name in the NHL nominee) and built a 3-1 lead before Boston began to play like the far superior team that they are. Milan Lucic's power play goal at 9:43 of the third period, his 18th of the season from Torey Krug and Jarome Iginla, handed them their only lead at 4-3.

Buffalo tied it with 52 seconds left in regulation as Matt Moulson, coming soon to another team near you, beat Johnson with an extra attacker on for the Sabres. At least D'Agostini got it over with quickly-22 seconds into the extra session-no need to spend more time than you have to in Buffalo.

Chris Kelly scored Boston's first goal post-Sochi just like we all predicted, at 10:47 of the first period from Carl Soderberg (sweet no-look backhand sauce) and Matt Bartkowski. It was Kelly's fifth goal of the season.

The refs obviously felt bad for the Sabres as they let Tyler Myers slash and punch Brad Marchand but only Boston's pesky winger received a penalty. Wouldn't you know that Myers scored on the ensuing Buffalo power play, it was that kind of shitty night. Lynnfield native Brian Flynn made it 3-1 Buffalo on a fluttering puck midway through the second and I half expected Niklas Svedberg to make his second appearance of the season.

Chara cut it to 3-2 at 11:01 of the second with his 14th goal of the season (9th on the power play) from Lucic and Krug. Marchand got some revenge on Buffalo when he tied it at three thanks to a sloppy turnover by John Scott (who they have playing defense, seriously) and pass by Reilly Smith. He leads the Bruins with 20 goals on the season, not too shabby.

Boston will have a couple days to stew over this uneven performance before they host Washington (27-23-9) on Saturday (1, NESN) at TD Garden. It promises to be a busy weekend for the B's since they travel to New York to face the Rangers on Sunday night as well, don't they know that The Oscars are on at the same time?

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In This Episode, The Bruins Recall What It's Like To Win Two Straight Games

It only took almost two months (Jan. 10 & 12) but the Boston Bruins have won two straight games. So when do the Duck Boats come out of hibernation?

I'd like to say there was some magical secret to their success tonight as the B's (40-23-3) beat the Buffalo Sabres (31-29-8) 3-1 at TD Garden, but the truth is that they simply went back to basics.

Three different players scored goals (Gregory Campbell, Johnny Boychuk and David Krejci) and Tim Thomas (19 saves; 29-15-0) made the big stops when he had to.

The best aspect of the win is that the Sabres actually scored first. Jason Pominville (25th of the season) made it 1-0 Buffalo at 16:39 of the first period when he ripped a shot over Thomas' glove. Thomas Vanek had the lone assist.

Campbell (7th of the season) answered as he broke a 20-game scoreless stretch at 18:09 in the second period. Shawn Thornton intercepted a bad pass in the Sabres' defensive zone and his shot on Jhonas Enroth (25 saves) was tipped in by Campbell.

Boychuk capped off a monster shift by scoring his fourth goal of the season at 12:56 in the third period. He had a great body check earlier and then he was able to blast the loose puck over Enroth's shoulder, hitting his water bottle. Jordan Caron had the assist.

Krejci (18th of the season) is playing his best hockey of the season at the perfect time since Boston is currently missing three forwards (Nathan Horton, Daniel Paille, Rich Peverley). Zdeno Chara started the breakout in his own end by skating past a couple Sabres. He got it to Tyler Seguin who then fed Milan Lucic. Looch found Krejci who was able to wait out Enroth, while fighting off a Sabre, and roof it over his leg pads. A highlight reel goal that is probably only possible for him or Seguin.

These teams meet one last time, fittingly on April 7-the final game of the regular season. In the meantime, Boston hosts the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon. The Caps are in a serious battle to win their division (Southeast). They're two points behind Florida but tied with Winnipeg; if the playoffs started today, Washington would be the No. 8 seed. The B's and Capitals have split two games so far and including Saturday they have two more.

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Sabres Pretend To Be Tough, Eventually Crumble As Bruins Win 10th Straight

When you haven't lost in the month of November and you extend a winning streak to 10 games, you are bound to have some victories that you basically pull out of your ass-for the lack of a better term.

Tonight in Buffalo at the First Niagara Center (when did that name change happen?) was one of those occasions when the Bruins (13-7-0) dug themselves a big hole: a pair of two-goal deficits (2-0 and 3-1) but they were able to weather the emotional storm from the Sabres (13-7-0) and move to the front of the Northeast Division with a thrilling 4-3 shootout win.

Benoit Pouliot of all people provided the winner in overtime as Buffalo goaltender Jhonas Enroth (36 saves) and Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (31 saves, 10-4-0) stopped every other shot before that deciding one in the fifth round.

Believe it or not, it has only been two years (2009-10) since the Bruins won 10 in a row. They last did the deed in December 2009. We all have short memories huh?

Coming 11 days after Millergate, everyone knew that Buffalo would be gunning for Milan Lucic. Credit to them, I guess, since Paul Gaustad stood up to him right away as the two fought 1:23 into the contest. However by nature the Sabres are simply not a physical or tough team so their actions felt scripted whereas the Bruins naturally play with an edge to their game. Oh and Lucic won the fight, so nice try.

The Sabres benefited from two shaky hometown calls to cash in with a pair of power-play goals in the first period. After a huge scrum which included Zdeno Chara mauling Robyn Regehr, the refs decided to tack on an extra two minutes for roughing on Adam McQuaid.

Former Canucks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (2nd of the season) made the B's pay with a howitzer from the point at 11:56.

A suspect hooking call on Dennis Seidenberg resulted in the obligatory Thomas Vanek goal (his 12th of the season) against Boston which made it 2-0 at 15:22.

Boston started to settle down in the second period and they took advantage of a hooking call as Tyler Seguin (12th of the season, topping his rookie total of 11) one-timed a pass from Patrice Bergeron (2 assists) to cut it to 2-1 at 3:37. Rich Peverley had the second assist.

The Bruins dominated the second (outshooting the Sabres 13-6) but Buffalo got another one, this time against the run of play. It took a lucky bounce off a Bruins skate but credit to Sabres rookie T.J. Brennan who was in the right spot to get his first career NHL goal at 11:02.

Heading into the third down two goals would have been a very tall order but luckily the B's didn't have to face such a scenario. Brad Marchand (7th of the season) roofed a shot over Enroth's glove following a rebound at 16:00. Bergeron and Seguin had the assists.

Chara (3rd of the season) tied it at 3:35 into the third with his patended bomb from the point. Lucic and David Krejci assisted on the captain's tally. Much like his team which had a shot advantage in the third as well (12-8), Thomas got stronger as the game went on. Boston was able to survive a hooking penalty to Krejci with 1:03 left in regulation.

Vanek, Nathan Gerbe (the former BC midget who had a great game), Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and Drew Stafford all came up empty in the shootout for the home team. Before Pouliot's success, Seguin, Peverley, Krejci and Bergeron were all stoned by Enroth.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. The Bruins come back to Boston to celebrate the holiday with their families and then they get to face the Detroit Red Wings on Friday afternoon in a marquee game which kicks off NBC's coverage for 2011-12. We all remember what happened in the two games the teams played last season-the Wings rolled-so it'll be interesting to see if the B's can improve on that forgettable home-and-home set.

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