Losing to the Sabres is Simply Not an Option, Like Ever

Down 2-1 with less than five minutes left in regulation, the Bruins were on the verge of the unforgivable: losing to the Sabres (the worst team in the NHL). Thankfully, the universe was still in order as Boston (6-6) rallied to tie it on Brad Marchand's goal at 14:30 then he also won it at 1:20 of overtime at the First Niagara Center. Buffalo (2-8-1) remains winless at home this season while the Bruins picked up their third straight road victory.

This wasn't the 4-0 laugher on October 18 or what the other two meetings will probably turn out to be (Dec. 21 and March 17 both at TD Garden) but the B's will take two points however they can get them these days. With Torey Krug out (along with Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller) and Matt Bartkowski a healthy scratch, no less than three Providence Bruins defensemen had to be in the lineup: Zach Trotman, David Warsofsky and Joe Morrow (making his NHL debut).

The Sabres are definitely the team you want to see in dire situations like the one currently facing the Bruins with all their injuries and uninspired play. Niklas Svedberg improved to 2-2 this season and ironically, both wins have come vs. Buffalo. Tonight, he only had to make 13 saves which is a complete joke but then you remember that Buffalo had 10 shots in an a 4-0 loss in Toronto on Tuesday.

Buffalo actually led not once but twice (I just puked in my mouth) as Drew Stafford's power play goal at 5:12 of the second period made it 1-0. Adam McQuaid tied it up at 11:36, from Carl Soderberg and Marchand, for his first goal of the season. Quaider certainly isn't known for his goal-scoring ability so it makes sense that the goal came on an easy wrist shot that took a deflection off a Sabre to elude Jhonas Enroth (34 saves).

Tyler Ennis' wrist shot beat Svedberg at 16:25 of the second period. Boston finally woke up in the third period, outshooting Buffalo 16-4 (37-15 for the game) and they were rewarded for their strong play. Marchand's first goal (only his second of the season) was flukey as Eriksson threw it at the net and it went in off Marchand's glove (unintentionally of course). It was reviewed and remained a goal which was the right call.

Of their next five games, Ottawa (5-2-2) looks like the only good team that the fortunate Bruins will have to face. The Senators come to TD Garden on Saturday night (7, NESN) for their first meeting of the season with their Atlantic Division foe.

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That's More Like It: Bruins Beat Sabres 3-1

After getting pushed around by Buffalo and losing 7-4 at the Garden on January 31 (their only regulation loss this season), Boston (8-1-1) was much better prepared tonight at the First Niagara Center to play their game. The end result was a nice 3-1 road win against the Sabres (5-7-1). Backup goaltender Anton Khudobin (25 saves; 2-0-0) picked up his second win in his second start (both on the road).

Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton all returned after missing multiple games, the latter two guys had been out since that initial beating by Buffalo. Their impact was immediate since the B's lines were more balanced again and the AHL All-Stars (Jamie Tardif, Lane MacDermid and Ryan Spooner) were all scratched or back in Providence where they belong. This time around, Thornton wasn't sacrificed to John Scott but Gregory Campbell took on scummy Patrick Kaleta in the first period.

Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller (36 saves) was superb all night but Marchand was able to solve him at 7:10 of the second period with a hard snap shot to the far post. Andrew Ference had the lone assist on Marchand's team-leading sixth goal of the season. Tyler Ennis got Buffalo's only goal on a wrister at 18:01 of the second period after another failed Bruins power play-a constant theme for the B's the past few years. Drew Stafford passed it to Ennis on the doorstep as Boston's defensemen were caught napping a bit.

The Bruins' god awful power play finally potted its first goal in five games and it turned out to be the game-winner. Patrice Bergeron (2nd of the season) made it 2-1 on a snap shot at 7:52 in the third period from Chris Bourque and Rich Peverley. Khudobin and Boston's defense was rock solid from that point on and Milan Lucic (3rd of the season) sent Buffalo fans streaming for the exits with his empty-netter at 19:11.

Boston hosts the Rangers (6-5-0) on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., NESN) as the Black and Gold continue to lead the Eastern Conference and Northeast Division. New York hasn't been a disaster ala Washington but they certainly haven't found any consistency yet this season. The Bruins would like to keep it that way with Tuukka Rask likely back in net. Boston beat New York 3-1 on Opening Night (Jan. 19) then lost 4-3 in overtime at MSG four nights later.

UPDATE 2/11: Tardif, MacDermid and Aaron Johnson were all sent down to Providence.

That Bruins-Lightning game has been rescheduled to Thursday, April 25 at TD Garden.

UPDATE 2/12: TSN's Bob McKenzie (the best NHL reporter in the universe) reports that the B's have signed Burlington native and BU product Jay Pandolofo to a one-year deal worth $600,000 in the NHL and $350,000 in the minors. He was placed on waivers and must clear for the deal to go through. This was expected after the B's traded Tim Thomas, thus freeing up a roster spot. Don't expect anything from the 38-year-old Pandolfo who has been with the team on an extended tryout (weird?) since the beginning of training camp.

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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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Bruins pick a good time to start a losing streak

The regular season is quickly winding down and with only 15 games left, the Boston Bruins desperately need points to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Last night, they lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime at the TD Garden. Former Bruins forward Brad Boyes was able to tap-in a great pass from Nathan Gerbe (former BC star) at 3:44 in the extra session.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (41 saves) did not have his best night of the season, flopping around in his crease which is always a bad sign when he reverts to his old helter skelter ways. It was an innocent shot by Gerbe that started the sequence but Thomas couldn't squeeze it. Gerbe tracked down the rebound and with Thomas coming way out and whiffing, Boyes parked himself at the side of the net.

Buffalo (33-26-8) rallied from a 2-0 deficit and was able to hand Boston (38-20-9) its third straight loss, even though it did get the bogus point.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is tripping up the Bruins at the moment, it seems to be something different in each game (goal-scoring, everything, defense, goaltending).

Nathan Horton's 19th of the season gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 8:54 of the first period. Some wonderful passing from linemates Milan Lucic and David Krejci (they've all been outstanding lately) ended in Horton's quick release.

Mark Recchi (12th of the season) made it 2-0 at 11:26 of the second period with a classic Recchi goal. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller (27 saves) made a save but Recchi went to the dirty net-front area and flipped the rebound in. Michael Ryder and Zdeno Chara assisted on that one.

Buffalo responded right away as Tyler Ennis cut it to 2-1 at 11:53 and Thomas Vanek tied it at 2 at 18:52. Ennis' goal took some skill as he waited out Thomas and seemingly the whole Bruins team to put it over them and into the net. Vanek's goal was much more unforgivable since his weak flip on net tied up Thomas.

Gregory Campbell (10th of the season) got his first point in eight games with another mucking and grinding goal at 2:18 in the third period. Miller's rebound went right to Soupy who poked it in. Chara and Shawn Thornton assisted.

More bad luck ensued for Thomas as Buffalo tied it up after a shot went off Chara's skate and into the net. Tim Connolly was credited for the goal at 5:05.

Rich Peverley had a great chance to end it in overtime but his shot went off the post and shortly after that, Boyes ended it.

The Bruins are right back at it tonight as they take on the Islanders in Long Island. They are playing out the string as always but the Islanders have been playing pretty decently lately and they have a dearth of talented forwards.