The Sabres short two game winning streak came to an end on Sunday, as they fell 3-1 to the Bruins at the First Niagara Center.
Backup goaltender Anton Khudobin made 25 of 26 saves on the night, leading Boston to victory. Khudobin made just his second start of the season, but now has wins in seven of his nine career games played, dating back to 2009.
The Bruins used a power play goal from Patrice Bergeron to take a 2-1 lead with 12 minutes to go in the third period, which turned out to be the game-winner. Boston, at one point, was 0 for it’s last 13 with the man advantage, but they cashed in on Sunday.
Milan Lucic capped off the Bruins victory with a shorthanded empty net goal.
Ryan Miller stopped 36 of 38 shots on the night, but the Sabres have now dropped eight of their last 11 games.
The Sabres had a chance to gain some ground on Boston, who had four more points than the Sabres coming into the game and first place in the division, but Buffalo couldn’t come through.
Patrick Kaleta dropped the gloves with Gregory Campbell in the opening period. The Sabres put 13 shots on net in the opening period. They had just 15 in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the Islanders.
The Bruins got on the board first with a goal from Brad Marchand, his 6th of the season.
With two minutes left in the second period, Tyler Ennis scored his 5th goal of the year, tying the game at one.
After an Andrej Sekera giveaway late in the third, Ryan Miller bailed out his defenseman by making another big save.
“I thought Andrej could have moved the puck a little bit quicker,” Lindy Ruff said.
“You have to take better care of the puck because if you throw it in the middle of the ice, it’s the toughest place to defend.”
Thomas Vanek was held off of the scoresheet for just the second time this season, and first at home.
“Thomas and Pommer and Cody have been carrying the load a lot,” Ennis said. “It seems like everyday we’re talking about secondary scoring. It’s gotta come.”
The Sabres were shorthanded for almost six straight minutes to start the second period after taking three penalties.
“We spent too much time killing penalties,” Ruff said. “It wasted energy.”
The loss drops the Sabres to 5-7-1 on the season and now six points out of the division lead.
The Sabres next game will be in Ottawa on Tuesday. That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.