Buffalo skids to their fourth loss in a row

By
Cory Hubbard
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Buffalo drops their fourth straight game to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston this afternoon. The Sabres end their season series losing seven of the eight games (1-6-1) to the Bruins.

Buffalo was dominated by Boston through the majority of this game as they were outshot 43 – 17 and had less than half the zone time through the game. Riley Sheahan was able to add a silver lining and kept Buffalo in the game early with a shorthanded goal. Arttu Ruotsalainen was the only other Sabre to find the back of the net, but by that point, it was too little too late.

Boston worked hard every shift as they continue to fight for every point to clinch their spot in the playoffs. The Bruins top lines are producing consistently and this game was no different. Craig Smith netted three for his second career NHL hat trick and Sean Kuraly, Patrice Bergeron, and Nick Ritchie each had a goal as well. Jeremy Swayman added a solid effort stopping 17 of 19 shots for his fifth career win.

Goaltending was solid through the first two periods for Buffalo as well with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopping 26 of 29 shots with quite a few key saves to keep Buffalo in it. Unfortunately, Luukkonen exited the game at the end of the second period with what appears to be an injury to his left leg. Dustin Tokarski replaced him in the third period allowing three goals on 14 shots as Boston sealed the game.

“He’s been playing really well and he’s got a bright future. It’s never fun to see a goalie get injured.” – Rasmus Dahlin

Buffalo’s effort on the ice was not enough to get the job done and they could not find a way to simplify the game. Fortunately, the Sabres off ice efforts are much stronger with the highlight of this afternoon’s game being the annual ‘Bald for Bucks’ campaign. Buffalo’s work with Roswell Park has raised over $6 million for cancer research to date.

The Sabres will hit the ice again on Monday night as they battle it out in their first of two back-to-back games in KeyBank Center against the New York Islanders who are in the playoff hunt as well. Puck drop is at 7 PM EST.