Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres was largely due to the visiting Boston Bruins’ two two-goal periods and impressive performances from both specialty teams.
For the Bruins, Charlie Coyle scored the first two of three goals they scored on a power play. The team scored four goals in a row to end a four-game losing streak (0-2-2).
Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk each had two helpers, and Mason Lohrei and Morgan Geekie closed out the scoring.
DeBrusk scored more than one point for the first time this year.
Jeremy Swayman stopped six of the seven penalties Boston took in the second period, making ten of his twenty-five saves.
The Sabres’ lone goal came from Erik Johnson, while Devon Levi made 21 saves. Three out of five losses for Buffalo are 1-3-1.
After being called up from AHL Rochester, Levi had made five starts and gone 4-0-1 in those games.
Tage Thompson of the Sabres was a late scratch due to personal reasons.
After the NHL’s three-day holiday break, both teams were making their way back.
The first goal came at 4:19, the consequence of Boston’s first two shots on goal. After James van Riemsdyk’s shot provided a juicy rebound into the slot, Lohrei joined the surge.
After killing off Marchand’s four-minute cross-checking and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties earlier in the first, the visitors made it 2-0. DeBrusk spun around behind Levi’s net at 13:42, perfectly passing the puck for Coyle to one-time in from close range.
4:18 into the second, the identical pair connected for another power-play goal. Once David Pastrnak effortlessly skated into the center of the ice, DeBrusk intercepted a careless pass from the right corner and Coyle skillfully banked the puck in off of Johnson’s skate in front of him.
A few minutes after Dylan Cozens’ long shot was stopped by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy in midair, Geekie extended the advantage to 4-0 with the last man-up goal at 13:44. Leaning forward, he ducked to divert McAvoy’s wayward shot off an extended Levi.
With 14:49 remaining in regulation, Johnson broke Swayman’s shutout bid, scoring from the top of the right circle after being set up at the points by teammate defenseman Owen Power.
Halfway through the third, Levi made breakaway stops on both Marchand and Pastrnak to keep the Sabres in it, but it was insufficient. In the last minutes, Rasmus Dahlin stopped Coyle twice from getting a hat trick on shots at an empty net.