BOSTON — The Buffalo Sabres may have a hard time making the playoffs this year in the position they are in, but they are going to be a force in the Atlantic Division for years to come.
The Bruins learned that the hard way.
After the Bruins blew a late lead, Alex Tuch scored his second goal of the game with 1:07 in overtime at the Garden. Dylan Cozens made a nice steal from Patrice Bergeron and the Sabres headed out on the attack with Tuch finishing it off, 4-3.
“We had our hands all around on that game,” said Brad Marchand, shaking his head. “When we’re up late like that, we have to have that killer instinct. We didn’t tonight.”
After the Bruins had a chance to nail it down with late power plays, the Sabres tied it with 1:37 left in regulation with the goalie pulled. On a set stretch play off the end boards, Cozens blasted a shot from the right circle that went through Jeremy Swayman to make it 3-3.
Trailing 2-1 going into the third, the Bruins tied it up at 5:16 on a power play when Bergeron scored his 15th on his patented quick wrister from the bumper.
Then, Trent Frederic had two golden chances on the same shift, but both of his redirect attempts at the top of the crease could not find the back of the net.
But Marchand gave the Bruins the lead with 7:35 left in regulation. With both teams changing, Marchand hopped on the ice in time to get a David Pastrnak pass for a clean breakaway. After being robbed earlier in the game, Marchand deked Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for his 10th goal of the season.
The Bruins had a great chance to end it when the Sabres first took a four-minute high stick and then another one just four seconds later. On a lengthy Bruin 5-on-3, Luukkonen (37 saves) made a spectacular pad save on Pastrnak to keep it a one-goal game. It was an opportunity lost.
With the Bruins still on a 5-on-4, coach Jim Montgomery called a timeout, but he was kicking himself he didn’t call it earlier.
“The late timeout was to give our best players the opportunity to extend the lead,” Montgomery said. “I just wanted to get organized. Should have called a timeout when the 5-on-3 happened, because we hadn’t had one in a while. We were very disorganized. Our puck-moving and our spacing was not the way we’d like it to be. And I have to take responsibility for not calling timeout there and then to end the game.”
This New Year’s Eve matinee had good energy from the get-go. That was helped along when Frederic, on a shorthanded bid from the left wing, crashed hard into Luukkonen. Before anyone could bring up the names Milan Lucic or Ryan Miller, Rasmus Dahlin delivered a hard crosscheck to the prone Frederic. That canceled what would have been a 5-on-3 for Buffalo, but the Sabres seemed intent on sending the message that they wouldn’t be pushed around.
It was the Bruins who took the first lead of the game at 13:09 on Pastrnak’s 25th of the year. Brandon Carlo made a nice touch pass to Pavel Zacha at the right side of the offensive blue line, then Zacha gave it to David Krejci. The centerman then gave a long pass to Pastrnak on the left and the winger blasted a one-timer past Luukkonen.
The Bruins had an opportunity to take control of the game when Kale Clague boarded Marchand 31 seconds after the Pastrnak goal. After Swayman came up with a big save on Peyton Krebs’ short-handed breakaway, it looked like the Bruins had a 2-0 lead when Bergeron set up Marchand for a tap-in, but Luukkonen made a tremendous pad save.
Then it was time for the Sabres’ top scorer to step up. After his breakout was turned back at the blue line, Connor Clifton tried to recover but his backhand pass went to Jeff Skinner. He dished it to Tage Thompson on the left wing and Thompson’s stork-like reach allowed him to move the puck to his forehand and tuck it around Swayman for his 27th of the season at 16:13.
The first 2:03 of the second period featured a breakaway for each team. Zacha’s just missed, Tuch’s did not.
First, Krejci sent Zacha in alone and he had Luukkonen beaten between the pads, but the netminder just got his stick on it and it went just wide.
Then, Hampus Lindholm made an ill-advised attempt to stop a puck with his skate just outside the offensive blue line. It went through him and Tuch pounced, bolting out on a clean break on which he beat Swayman past the blocker with a wrist shot at 2:03.
Emotions ran high again after Krebs delivered a good, clean check on Taylor Hall, but Clifton would not let it stand. The two dropped the gloves and, after the Bruin switched to southpaw in mid-fight, Clifton landed a couple of blows that cut Krebs, knocked him down and sent him to the dressing room for repairs. But in keeping with the Sabres’ attitude for the day, a smiling Krebs pumped his arms to the Buffalo bench as he made his way to the tunnel.
Then in was Swayman’s turn to keep his team in the game. Jack Quinn set up Dahlin on what looked like a tap-in for him, but the goalie stood his ground and made the stop.
That kept the Bruins within a goal going into the third.
