BOSTON – The misery continues. And for the Buffalo Sabres, this one probably hurt more than any other game during the most horrific stretch of hockey in franchise history.
The Sabres were 20 minutes away from snapping the winless streak that has stretched more than a month. Instead, they gave up two third-period goals and suffered a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Craig Smith's goal with 3:50 to play in TD Garden.
Smith took a David Krejci feed to the slot and tapped the puck past Linus Ullmark to extend Buffalo's winless streak to 17 games (0-15-2). The franchise-record run is the longest in the NHL since 2003. The Sabres have lost nine straight in regulation.
The Sabres had a 2-1 lead through two periods, but the Bruins got even on Nick Ritchie's goal at 5:22 of the third. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy kept possession for several seconds in the Buffalo end, skating a couple of wide circles before finally trying to pass the puck to the goalmouth.
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It hit the skate of Rasmus Ristolainen and dropped in the crease, giving Ritchie an easy tap-in.
The loss spoiled a solid effort by Ullmark, who made 33 saves in his first game since suffering a leg injury Feb. 25. The Bruins outshot the Sabres 15-3 in the third period and 36-27 for the game.
Surprise absence: The Bruins played without star winger Brad Marchand as coach Bruce Cassidy announced 90 minutes before faceoff that one of the NHL's chief pests had landed on the Covid-19 protocol list. Marchand is second on the team with 12 goals and is the leader in assists (22) and points (34).
In 46 career games against Buffalo, Marchand has 20 goals and 43 points.
"You’re always going to get thrown curve balls,” Cassidy said. “'Marchie' plays on average 19 minutes. That’s 19 minutes for somebody else, so step up and grab it. Every player in that room probably wants more responsibility. No player says ‘Play me less, coach.’ So here’s a day that they’re going to get some of that.”
Trent Frederic took Marchand's spot on Boston's top line at left wing with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.
Thanks very much: Sam Reinhart opened the scoring on a power play at 2:01 of the first period, intercepting a pass from Boston goalie Dan Vladar and backhanding the puck into an empty net before the Boston goalie could scramble back into place.
The 6-foot-6 Vladar, a Czech who was Boston's third-round pick in 2015, was playing his second NHL game. He won his first one March 16 over Pittsburgh by making 34 saves.
Power play drought ends: The Reinhart goal snapped Buffalo's skid with the man advantage at 28 straight scoreless attempts. Buffalo was 0 for 22 in March and had not scored on the power play since Reinhart's game-tying tally in the third period of the Feb. 25 overtime loss to New Jersey.
Getting even: Boston tied the game 1-1 on defenseman Matt Grzelcyk's screened wrist shot at 11:41 of the second period. It came after a 20-second possession with the Bruins at 6-on-5 after a Rasmus Dahlin turnover led to Dahlin taking a hooking penalty. The Bruins got Vladar out of the net and kept the pressure on in the Buffalo end before Grzelcyk, a Boston University teammate of Jack Eichel, got the goal.
Second-period blues: The Sabres have been outscored 32-9 in the second period during the 17-game skid. They were even at 1-1 in this game.
Rarely in front: The Sabres' leads after the first and second periods were just the seventh time in 33 games this season that they've led after each frame. Reinhart's goal marked only the 10th time they opened the scoring.
In the house: The Bruins welcomes a socially-distanced crowd of 2,191, about 12 percent of a normal sellout of 17,000+. They were noticeable, particularly during the third-period rendition of Dropkick Murphys "Shipping up to Boston" that's a staple of games here.
Next: The Sabres are off Sunday and play their next four games in KeyBank Center against Philadelphia and the New York Rangers. They start the stretch by meeting the the struggling Flyers on Monday and Wednesday.
