*Photo from the Boston Globe*
A little break might have been all they needed. Jake DeBrusk had two assists, Charlie Coyle scored two goals, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night in Buffalo.
Having entered the Christmas break with 4 straight losses, the Bruins came out of the break with a win over the division rival Sabres, just their 4th win in 10 games. Brad Marchand also added two assists as the Bruins remain atop the Atlantic Division.
DeBrusk said of snapping the losing streak that "Anytime you can win, it always helps. I think that means there’s lots of things that we’re doing right, and as a group, we didn’t like how it ended going into the break. Had a couple days to reset and came out with a good effort tonight, had some good goaltending and just rolled with it."
The Bruins got on the board early in the game. Rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei made it 1-0 Bruins with his 3rd goal of the season 4:19 into the game, assisted by James van Riemsdyk and Trent Frederic. On the power play later in the period, Coyle picked up his 11th goal of the season, with DeBrusk and Marchand assisting.
Starting the scoring in the second period was Coyle again, who scored on the power play to pad the Bruins lead to 3-0, with DeBrusk and David Pastrnak getting assists. Morgan Geekie added another power play goal to make it a 4-0 game. Erik Johnson scored in the 3rd period for the Sabres, making it 4-1 and denying the shutout bid.
Coyle said after the game that "We always want to get out to a lead if you can, and then it’s up to us to push that lead, build on our game, play the right way. We had to get that one back. To be a good team, there’s going to be little lapses, right? But it’s up to us. If they have a good shift, that next line comes out. We’ve just got to keep building on our game."
Getting the start out of the break for the Bruins was Jeremy Swayman, who was solid in net and improved to 10-2-4 with the win. Swayman stopped all but one of the 26 shots he saw from the Sabres, good for a stellar .962 save percentage.
It was Devon Levi who started for the Sabres, looking more mortal than Swayman as he fell to 7-5-2 in 15 starts and 16 games with the loss. Levi turned aside 21 out of the 25 shots on goal the Bruins sent his way, giving him a .840 save percentage.
Buffalo forward Alex Tuch said of the loss that "We’re passing up good opportunities, we’re not supporting each other. It just kind of adds up. It’s a snowball effect, and each guy has to look at one another and try to work for one another, because it’s five against four. I mean, we shouldn’t be out there and getting outchanced. It’s confidence, it’s swagger. We obviously don’t have it right now, and we’re going to work to get it back."
The Bruins get back in action on Saturday night by taking on the New Jersey Devils at home, with Linus Ullmark likely to start in net. Levi is the projected starter for the Sabres on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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