Bruins Beat Sabres by Single Goal

(Photo: Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

The Buffalo Sabres came into Boston on a 16-game losing streak undoubtedly hoping to break that skid. The Boston Bruins were coming off their loss to the New York Islanders in the first home game of a seven-game home stand with fans in the building.

For the Boston Bruins, they had a morning change-up as Brad Marchand was sent home as part of the COVID protocol. The shift of lines saw Trent Frederic join Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak on the top line. Jack Studnicka and Zach Senyshyn also saw themselves on the roster for the matinee game. Senyshyn slotted in on the right side of Charlie Coyle’s third line while Studnicka centered the fourth line.

Things were not looking great for the Bruins as the game got underway. While Trent Frederic came out on his first shift and made his first hit, Connor Clifton simultaneously got whistled for the first penalty of the game, an elbow, giving the Sabres the first power play of the game. Sam Reinhart gave Buffalo the lead just 45 seconds into that power play, when Dan Vladar had a miscue in playing the puck and wasn’t set in his net on Reinhart’s shot. However, the rest of the game Vladar made the necessary stops to keep Boston in the game.

Throughout the game the Bruins seemed to have some issues making connections on some of their passes and on some shifts it was clear the chemistry and communication wasn’t there. Perhaps this was to be expected a little given the shakeup in lines with major players still out with injuries or COVID protocols and the departure of Marchand so close to game start.

Shortly after the half way mark of the game, Boston University alumnus Matt Grzelcyk tied the game. Assisted by Pastrnak and Bergeron, his shot from the blue line, having traveled laterally, continued to show some of the skill the underrated defensemen has. The Sabres managed to get a go ahead goal roughly three minutes later, from Kyle Okposo, assisted by Henri Jokiharju and Rasmus Dahlin, giving them the lead going into the second intermission. Buffalo had also managed to outshoot Boston in the middle frame.

As the third period got underway the effort and energy from the Bruins had stepped up a notch. After all, they certainly didn’t want to be the team that lost to the skidding Sabres, but they were trailing and had yet to lead in the game. 

With the clock ticking toward the opening five minutes of the final period, Charlie McAvoy, another BU alum, picked up a pass from Grzelcyk and got his feet moving, skating it down the right wall and around the back of Linus Ullmark’s net. He was going around the world and the fans in the building began booing McAvoy—perhaps thinking he was being selfish with the puck—when finally McAvoy saw a seam and got the puck to Nick Ritchie who was just on the lower right circle. The booing immediately turned into a cheer when the puck found the twine and the game was once again tied. McAvoy’s hockey IQ and skills were on display in that play and his patience to keep possession and look for the best open player paid off.

Despite already having had three power play opportunities, the Bruins went on a fourth about four minutes after Ritchie’s goal. It was clear the team had some jump and some confidence but in the end they failed to convert for the fourth time in the game. This begs the question of how important Marchand is on the power play top unit and whether or not the team was missing his chemistry with Pastrnak on that unit.

The clock dipped into the final five minutes of regulation with the score still tied. It entered that interval where fans simply want the team to get the one point and force an overtime when Boston got their first lead of the game. Craig Smith who was on Ullmark’s doorstep caught an errant puck—that appeared to be a rebound off an attempt from Ritchie and David Krejci—which he put home at 16:10 of the third.

The Sabres pulled their goalie in the final couple of minutes for the extra attacker only to have to put him back in after Rasmus Ristolainen was called for goaltender interference on Vladar with 25 seconds remaining. In the end the Bruins held on and took the two points in regulation.

While all three of Boston’s goals were scored at five-on-five and certainly by those not on the top line, the Bruins still can’t say that all of their lines are clicking. And their inability to convert while on the power play was something that they will want to address. Their penalty kill continues to be lead the league and their power play going into Saturday’s matinee was a decent 7th place, but it is likely they were not pleased with how the power play went during Saturday’s game.

There is little time for the Bruins to think about their win, as they are back at it hosting the New Jersey Devils for a rare 5:30pm start on Sunday.