Sabres wrap: Bruins' late power-play goal stretches Buffalo's winless streak to 13

Sabres wrap: Bruins' late power-play goal stretches Buffalo's winless streak to 13

Morgan Geekie's power-play goal with 1:45 left in the third period gave the Bruins a 3-1 win Saturday night in TD Garden and sent the Sabres to their 13th consecutive loss.

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Morgan Geekie's power-play goal with 1:45 left in the third period gave the Bruins a 3-1 win Saturday night in TD Garden and sent the Sabres to their 13th consecutive loss.

Buffalo is 11-18-4 overall and 0-10-3 over its last 13 games as the Sabres sit last among the NHL's 32 teams. Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal for Boston.

The Bruins led 1-0 until JJ Peterka's power-play goal tied it for the Sabres with 1:37 left in the second period. They fell behind early but not as a result of numerous mistakes. Charlie Coyle scored first for the Bruins on a breakaway after he exited the penalty box in the first period.

Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin was not in the lineup for the second game of the back-to-back. It's likely that Dahlin was held out because Friday was his first appearance in the lineup after missing seven games with back spasms.

Jack Quinn and Dennis Gilbert were also the Sabres' healthy scratches, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the backup goalie.


Buffalo Sabres' James Reimer (47) blocks a shot in front of Mattias Samuelsson (23) as Boston Bruins' Pavel Zacha (18) and Morgan Geekie (39)
look for the rebound during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Boston. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

First period​

• Sabres center Dylan Cozens challenged Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo with a shot from the slot, then Cozens chipped the rebound over the net.
• The Bruins misfired a pass during a 2-on-1, then Tage Thompson blocked Elias Lindholm's shot from the right circle.
• Coyle's hooking penalty gave the Sabres a power play with 13:53 left in the first period. Buffalo had two shots during the man-advantage, including a one-timer by Thompson, but did not score.
• Coyle exited the penalty box and scored a breakaway goal to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 11:45 remaining. Reimer made the initial save, but Coyle jammed the puck past the Sabres goalie.
• Korpisalo snared the puck when Nicolas Aube-Kube cut the the net and redirected Ryan McLeod's pass toward the Bruins' net.
• Reimer used his left leg to stop Jordan Oesterle's low shot, then Lindholm took an offensive-zone slashing penalty to give the Sabres a power play with 1:54 left.
• Buffalo outshot Boston 8-6 in the first period and, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Sabres had more high-danger scoring chances (4-3) in 5-on-5 situations.

Second period​

• Cozens overhandled the puck after the Bruins turned the puck over in their defensive zone, then Kulich had a low shot from the slot stopped by Korpisalo.
• Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn's offensive-zone high-sticking penalty gave the Bruins a power play with 13:53 left. Lindholm missed a backdoor chance before Byram blocked two shots to help Buffalo kill the penalty.
• Jason Zucker forced Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy to turn the puck over and Peterka scored with a shot from the high slot while Tage Thompson skated in front of Korpisalo.

Third period​

• Tuch almost scored when a pass made it to the front of the Bruins' net, where the Sabres winger was ready to chip it past Korpisalo. The goalie made the save though, keeping it tied 1-1 early in the period.
• Reimer stopped David Pastrnak's low shot and prevented a rebound with 13:23 remaining in regulation.
• It appeared that Morgan Geekie gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead when his shot from the right circle went off Power's stick and past Reimer with 12:44 left in the third period. The goal was wiped out by Lindy Ruff when the Sabres coach successfully challenged that Boston was offside when it entered the offensive zone.
• Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton hit the post with a snap shot from the right circle with 11:28 left in regulation.

Next​

The Sabres' final game before the holiday break is Monday night at UBS Arena against the New York Islanders. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.

 

[HipKat]

Sabres 'deserved better,' but their winless streak reached 13: Takeaways from Boston​

Sabres 'deserved better,' but their winless streak reached 13: Takeaways from Boston

Their 13-game winless streak is the third-longest in franchise history, trailing only the 0-14 run of futility during the tank season of 2014-15 and the 0-15-3 skid in 2020-21 that cost Ralph Krueger his job as coach.

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Lindy Ruff abruptly ended his postgame media availability after less than 90 seconds late Saturday night in TD Garden.

The Sabres coach wasn’t critical about his players, other than their inability to do more offensively in the third period of their 3-1 loss. He would have been encouraged by their performance under different circumstances.

“You can’t play much better and end up losing a hockey game,” Ruff lamented.

These aren’t normal times for the Sabres, though.

Their 13-game winless streak is the third-longest in franchise history, trailing only the 0-14 run of futility during the tank season of 2014-15 and the 0-15-3 skid in 2020-21 that cost Ralph Krueger his job as coach.

At least one month will pass without the Sabres winning a game. Their last victory was Nov. 23, when they beat the San Jose Sharks to complete a sweep of their three-game California road trip. The Sabres were third in the Atlantic Division when they flew back to Buffalo that weekend. They were about to have a long homestand and their leading goal-scorer, Tage Thompson, was about to return from a lower-body injury.

Now the Sabres are 11-18-4 overall and 0-10-3 in their last 13 games. They are sitting at the bottom of the NHL with only 26 standings points through 33 games. On pace for only 64 points, Buffalo is in contention for nothing other than the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft. It's going to take an unprecedented run for the playoff drought to not reach 14 seasons.

It’s hard to believe given the excitement surrounding Ruff’s return, the role players that general manager Kevyn Adams acquired in the summer and some of the talented returners. It wasn’t long ago that the club won seven of nine games, but the Sabres have a negative-26 goal differential during these 13 losses.

“We’re gonna find a way to turn this around and end this streak,” said defenseman Connor Clifton. “Obviously, a lot of frustration all around just because of the way we’ve been playing, but there was a lot of good tonight.”


The Bruins' Charlie Coyle sets up to score on Sabres goaltender James Reimer during Saturday's game in Boston. Michael Dwyer, Associated Press

No one in the Sabres’ dressing room was trying to settle for a moral victory. Players were frustrated and angry. This was another game that could have been theirs, like several others over the previous four weeks. They held the Bruins to only 14 shots on goal through 46 minutes.

Buffalo was the better team in the second period, when JJ Peterka scored a power-play goal to tie it 1-1 with 1:37 before the intermission. Alex Tuch’s shot from near Boston’s crease was stopped by goalie Joonas Korpisalo early in the third period, and Clifton hit the crossbar later.
“I thought we deserved better,” said Ruff.

The difference was Morgan Geekie’s game-winning, power-play goal with 1:45 left in regulation. James Reimer, who started in place of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, couldn’t make the save because he was tripped before the shot was taken. The Sabres coaching staff decided that Mattias Samuelsson shoving Justin Brazeau would be enough to lose a goaltender interference challenge. Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal to help the Bruins improve to 18-13-4.

It was arguably the best the Sabres had looked in the second game of a back-to-back. They’re 4-15 in those situations dating to the start of last season. And, most important, they finally played like a team instead of a bunch of individuals. They ditched the one-on-one, turnover-prone hockey and followed Ruff’s system for most of the game.

“I thought today a lot of guys were playing for one another, and we hadn’t had that in a long time,” said Tuch. “Guys were blocking shots, guys were backchecking hard and I think we had a more complete game than we’ve had in the past.”

The defensive performance at 5-on-5 – the Sabres held the Bruins to only five high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick – was particularly impressive because Buffalo did it without Rasmus Dahlin. The team wasn’t willing to play him in both games of the back-to-back because he returned from back spasms Friday night. Ruff scratched Jack Quinn for Nicolas Aube-Kubel to get another veteran forward in the lineup.

The Sabres were still credited with 25 giveaways, but they weren’t turning the puck over in dangerous situations like they did in previous games. It will be difficult to win once, let alone several games in a row, unless this team starts to score more at 5-on-5. They have only one third-period goal over their last five games, and Korpisalo faced only three shots on goal in the final 20 minutes Saturday night.

Fans are worried that another long, painful rebuild lies ahead. Players on expiring contracts may be wondering how much longer they will be in Buffalo, even though Adams said he wants to improve his roster instead of subtracting from it. The Sabres have no choice but to focus on the positives, work to eradicate the bad habits that did irreparable damage to their playoff aspirates and remember that 49 games remain.

“We want to win in here and we just need a little bit more out of everybody, a little bit more complete game, and I think we’re going to do it against the Islanders,” Tuch said of the Sabres' next opponent.

Here are other takeaways from the game:

1. Shot blocking​

The Sabres had killed 1:59 of Sam Lafferty’s hooking penalty when Geekie scored the game-winning goal.

“We’re in one here, and we’ve got to start finding a way to win,” said Clifton.

It was a brutal way to lose. The Sabres’ penalty kill was 2-for-2 before the goal because of gutsy shot blocking and steady goaltending by Reimer. Bo Byram and Beck Malenstyn blocked two apiece. Buffalo blocked a total of 20 and held the Bruins to only two shots during their first two power plays. The Sabres took away passing lanes and covering forwards down low instead of leaving them wide open.

2. Stepping up​

Jason Zucker applied pressure on Charlie McAvoy to force the Bruins defenseman to turn the puck over during the Sabres’ power play in the second period.

Peterka took possession, then scored his 10th goal of the season with a low shot. The Sabres’ power play has relied too much on skill during this monthlong slog. They have forced bad passes and failed to get the puck back after losing it. It’s safe to assume that Ruff will be showing Zucker’s play during their next video meeting.

Peterka scoring for the second time in as many games is an encouraging development for the Sabres. They need more from their other top players, though. Tage Thompson had only two shots on goal against the Bruins after totaling zero in each of his previous two games.

3. Awareness​

A lack of awareness burned the Sabres on the Bruins’ first goal.

Reimer banged his stick against the ice to alert his teammates that Charie Coyle’s penalty was about to expire. One of the four Buffalo forwards should have skated back to the blue line or neutral zone to make sure the puck didn’t get down the ice to Coyle. However, four Sabres got caught too deep in the offensive zone, which led to the breakaway that Coyle used to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

4. Next​

The Sabres’ final game before the brief holiday break is Monday night at UBS Arena against the New York Islanders. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.