The Buffalo Sabres host the Boston Bruins in a Wednesday night matchup of two teams looking to right the ship in their first action after the NHL’s three-day holiday break.
Both sides suffered road losses on Saturday night. A 3-2 loss at Minnesota extended Boston’s skid to a season-long four games (0-2-2), while Buffalo is in a 1-2-1 stretch following a 4-3 overtime loss to the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
The break came at an especially opportune time for the Bruins, who still have a four-point lead in the Atlantic Division and sit second in the conference despite their worst slump since December 2019.
“Christmas is a beautiful holiday, so we have to … recognize that, appreciate it, and come back and be ready to work, and get better because we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Boston forward David Pastrnak said.
Saturday’s effort was better than what they put forth in a 5-1 loss at Winnipeg the previous night, but even Pastrnak’s team-leading 20th goal of the season providing a 1-0 lead and Linus Ullmark’s 33 saves were not enough. Morgan Geekie netted his third in a six-game span in the third period.
One pain point during Boston’s recent skid has been discipline, going short-handed 15 times and allowing five power-play goals.
Boston heads into a stretch against playoff-hungry teams, with a back-to-back against New Jersey and Detroit to follow this weekend.
“We just need more concerted effort,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “People (have) got to stay in the moment. They can’t worry about their previous shift or worry about what’s happening in five minutes. They’ve got to focus and reset and go out there for that next shift.”
The Bruins recalled defenseman Ian Mitchell on an emergency basis from Providence with both Matt Grzelcyk (upper-body) and Derek Forbort (lower-body) out last weekend. Charlie McAvoy did not miss any time after getting dinged up late in Winnipeg.
Though it came in a loss, the Sabres would love to bottle their effort against the Rangers for the future as they erased a 2-0 deficit to earn a road point.
Buffalo’s battle not only showed in the scoring column as Rasmus Dahlin scored for a third straight game and Jack Quinn potted his second in that span since making his season debut, but Mattias Samuelsson and Connor Clifton each blocked a team-high seven shots.
“Good, very good effort,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “We had to scratch, we had to fight a lot of different elements and refocus on some different elements and stay focused. I thought our guys did a great job with it.”
Prior to Saturday, the Sabres had allowed nine goals to Columbus on Tuesday and then scored nine goals against Toronto on Thursday.
Quinn had missed the first 32 games of the season with an Achilles injury before returning to the lineup on Tuesday, skating with JJ Peterka and Dylan Cozens.
“He’s been here with us and he’s definitely a member of the crew here and fits in well, brings such a good vibe,” Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt said of Quinn. “I think of course we missed his skill and missed his talent on the ice, but just to have him smiling and chuckling around the room.”
-FLM
