Bruins 3 - 2 Sabres
Final - OT
  for this game

Bruins aim to rebound in Buffalo

Oct 30, 2014 - 2:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Bruins suffered a late collapse to lose for the second time in three games the last time out, but they hope to get back on track Thursday when they visit the lowly Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center.

The Bruins appeared well on their way to a second straight win Tuesday against Minnesota, as Boston led 3-1 after 40 minutes. But the Wild scored three unanswered tallies in the third period to skate out of Beantown with a 4-3 victory.

The setback dropped the B's to 1-1 without captain and star defenseman Zdeno Chara in the lineup. Chara, who will be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks with a ligament tear in his right knee, suffered his injury in last Thursday's loss to the New York Islanders. Boston posted a 4-1 win over Toronto in its first test without Chara before blowing a third-period lead en route to Tuesday's defeat.

Minnesota received goals from Zach Parise and Justin Fontaine in the early part of the third period before Marco Scandella notched the game-winning goal with 5:53 left.

Seth Griffith had two goals and an assist in defeat and Milan Lucic supplied a goal and a helper for the Bruins.

Tuukka Rask made 38 saves in the loss. The goaltender was peppered with 18 shots in the third period alone.

"There is no excuse why we shouldn't have been the better team in the third," Rask said. "It was a good learning experience for us."

Rask is expected to start tonight and he is 6-5-1 with a 2.43 goals against average in his career against Buffalo.

The Sabres offer an excellent chance for Boston to get back in the win column. Buffalo is just 2-8-0 on the season and already has a minus-22 goal differential through 10 games.

Buffalo halted a four-game slide with Saturday's surprising 2-1 win in San Jose, but then followed with Tuesday's 4-0 setback in Toronto. The road loss against the Maple Leafs marked the fourth time the Sabres have been shut out in six games.

The Sabres only managed to put 10 shots on net in Tuesday's loss, setting a club record for fewest shots in a game. The previous low of 11 was set on Dec. 3, 1981 against Boston.

Toronto also set a club mark for the fewest shots allowed in a game.

Michael Neuvirth stopped 33-of-37 shots for Buffalo, which has scored just 10 times this season.

"We had nothing. Toronto had everything going," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.

Buffalo will try to bounce back Thursday, but the Bruins already have shut out the Sabres this season, posting a 4-0 win in Boston on Oct. 18. Niklas Svedberg posted the shutout for the B's with 32 saves.

Boston has won three of the last four encounters with the Sabres overall and has three victories in its past five trips to Buffalo.

The Bruins will follow Thursday's tilt with a four-game homestand that begins Saturday against Ottawa. Buffalo visits Pittsburgh on Saturday before returning to Western New York for a four-game homestand of its own.

Jhonas Enroth will start in net for Buffalo. The 26-year-old Swede is just 1-5-2 with a 3.89 GAA in his career against the Bruins.






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