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Buffalo is coming off of a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders down state yesterday. Ryan Miller stole the show by making 41 saves and bailing his teammates out several times. Robyn Regher is back from injured reserve with a high ankle sprain, and will be in the lineup. That means T.J. Brennan will be a healthy scratch, along with Tyler Myers. It is the second straight game Myers is watching from the press box. The blue and gold needed to make a roster move to bring Regher back, and they placed Matt Ellis on waivers.
For more from today's optional morning skate, click here for Paul Hamilton's pregame report. Be sure to add your comments in the thread below and interact with the blog. I will add my two cents, in addition to the scoring plays. Also, be sure to follow Brian Koziol: @BrianWGR and myself: @PatWGR on Twitter for even more.
First Period
20:00 - Robyn Regher is indeed back in the lineup tonight, T.J. Brennan is a scratch along with Mikhail Grigorenko.
15:33 - Marcus Foligno had the best chance of the game so far, but the puck slipped off of his stick and went into the corner. The forward tried to go backhand, top corner for the score.
14:28 - I am sitting next to Paul Hamilton for the period, and he noticed right off the bat that Lindy Ruff is trying to keep the Vanek line away from Zdeno Chara. Claude Julien is trying to get that matchup every time, but as Paul said, Ruff is making him earn it.
11:01 - Well, I am guessing Gregory Campbell won't be going at Patrick Kaleta again anytime soon. Kaleta unloaded on Campbell after the Bruin came to the defense of a teammate from a *clean* hit. Campbell raced across the ice and will get the instigator minor to along with a fighting major.
8:58 - A lackluster PP for Buffalo as Chara actually had a golden chance right at the start, walking in untouched on Miller. Still 0-0 in the opening stanza.
6:29 - You wouldn't know by the current tally that the Sabres were being outshot for much of this period. The blue and gold now have a slight 13-12 edge in shots, and I would add the better of the scoring chances overall in the first.
4:12 - Another beautiful scoring chance goes by the wayside for Buffalo. Foligno evaded a sprawled defender to feed Nathan Gerbe, but the forward whiffed on the chance. Will this be another case of a bounce goes in and all of a sudden the Sabres are staring a 1-0 deficit in the face?
End of Period
BUF - 0, BOS - 0
Scoring Summary
BUF: none
BOS: none
Shots On Goal
BUF - 13, BOS - 16
Second Period
17:56 - Cody Hodgson's slashing minor at the end of the opening stanza does not come back to haunt the blue and gold. No worse for the wear, and only one shot given up on the kill. Now they are right back at it thanks to a Steve Ott unsportsmanlike conduct minor.
16:36 - Now it will be 5-on-3 thanks to an Alexander Sulzer cross checking penalty. Refree Dave Jackson makes the call. The B's take their one, and only, timeout here.
15:43 - What a great play by Christian Ehrhoff to dive and distrupt Brad Marchand enough to take away his breakaway chance. Rare is it that the defenseman does not take the player down and make the play, but this was one of those occasions.
13:36 - If it wasn't for Ryan Miller, the Sabres would be laughed right out of the rink for a second straight night. In back-to-back games the netminder has made highlight reel stops to keep his team in the game. The latest was a stop of Nathan Horton at the side of the goal. Miller is playing at an elite level.
12:50 - BRUINS GOAL. Brad Marchand snaps a shot just above the faceoff dot, and with Andrej Sekera cutting across he beats Miller. We had a feeling that this might be coming. Boston was building momentum up to this for a while. 1-0 BOS.
9:25 - Yes, you are all right. I jinxed Miller and the Sabres. Let's forget that the team is being outshot 9-1 this period, and 25-14 overall. Me pointing out an observation jinxed the blue and gold.
6:31 - Another lackluster PP for Buffalo. Marchand tried to give his goal back by taking a faceoff violation penalty by using his hand to sweep the puck out of the dot.
1:59 - SABRES GOAL. What a nifty set of hands by Tyler Ennis to deke around the goaltender and roof the puck into the opposite corner of the net. Credit the other two forwards as well. Steve Ott pressured the defenseman into letting the puck go by right to Drew Stafford, who made the pass to the front. 1-1 tie.
End of Period
BUF - 1, BOS - 1
Scoring Summary
BUF: 18:01 - Tyler Ennis (5). (Drew Stafford)
BOS: 7:10 - Brad Marchand (6). (Andrew Ference)
Shots On Goal
BUF - 5 (18), BOS - 10 (26)
Third Period
18:08 - The Sabres have struggled to get a shot on goal in many a third periods this season. Let's see how long it takes the blue and gold here tonight.
15:37 - The blue and gold already have two shots this frame. Shots are 5-2 for the B's at the moment.
12:08 - BRUINS GOAL. Patrice Bergeron beats any Sabre on the ice to a loose puck in the slot, and he scores on the power play to give Boston another lead. No chance for Miller to stop that one. The goal comes as Mike Weber was in the box for shooting the puck over the glass. 2-1 BOS.
9:01 - Shots are 7-6, Boston right now, but I do not think the play matches that total. The Bruins are keeping the puck in the Buffalo zone a majority of this stanza.
5:50 - Holy cow, Miller saves the game right there. Andrej Sekera makes an incredibly dumb play in front of his own net, and if not for a flail by the netminder, Bergeron would have had his second of the game and it would be 3-1. Oh man, that was brutal.
3:24 - The Sabres are stuck on six shots on goal. It has been a while since they registered one on Khudobin.
1:14 - Miller is out for the extra attacker.
:48.6 - BRUINS GOAL. Milan Lucic scored on the open net, and this one is salted away for the visitors. 3-1 BOS.
End Of Game
Boston 3, Buffalo 1
Scoring Summary
BUF: none
BOS: 7:52 - Patrice Bergeron (2) PPG. (Chris Bourque, Rich Peverley). 19:11 - Milan Lucic (3) ENG. (David Krejci, Dennis Seidenberg).
Shots On Goal
BUF - 8 (26), BOS - 13 (39)
Postgame
Well, this is kind of the result that should have happened last night in Long Island, right?! If not for Miller's 41 saves the team should have not been in the game, let alone win it. The goaltender tried his darndest to steal another game, but again the secondary scoring really was not there. The Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville line was quiet, and except for the Ennis goal there was nothing else. Just eight shots on goal in the third is another bad example of how this teams performs down the stretch. Next up is a meeting with the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Catch all of the action, and the pregame show starting ay 6:30 p.m., on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network - WGR Sports Radio 550.