Recap: Bruins skate past Sabres in a 5-2 win

Good stuff.

Just as they did after their other two losses this season, the Bruins bounced back with authority after Saturday’s defeat in Montreal, smoking the Sabres in Buffalo.

The B’s led 3-0 just over 15 minutes into the game and never looked back, leaving town with a comfortable 5-2 win.

David Pastrnak led the way with a goal and two assists, while the B’s got single goals from four other skaters.

Linus Ullmark made 32 saves in the win.

Danton Heinen got the Bruins on the board with his first goal of the season, putting a loose puck past Devon Levi 3:01 into the game to make it 1-0 Bruins.

David Pastrnak made it 2-0 Bruins with an absolute rocket just 68 seconds later.

Things went from bad to worse for Buffalo, as Tage Thompson caught his skate in a rut on the ice and went down awkwardly, leaving the game for a stretch before eventually returning (then leaving again).

Rasmus Dahlin executed a pretty big reverse hit on Brad Marchand, with slight chaos ensuing.

A Tim Thomas-esque lunge from Ullmark led to a 3-on-1 the other way, with Brandon Carlo cashing in to get his first of the season and make it 3-0 Bruins.

Oskar Steen would take advantage of an early Christmas present in the form of a gift-wrapped turnover to make it 4-0 Bruins early in the second.

Hampus Lindholm got in on the fun eight minutes later with a knuckling power play goal to make it 5-0 Bruins.

Things would eventually go from worse to “wow, this is a disaster” for Buffalo, as the returned Thompson had a shot go off of his wrist. He’d exit again and wouldn’t return.

Victor Oloffson was probably the only Sabre who didn’t have a complete dumpster fire of a night — he’d score once in the late second and once in the late third to give Buffalo some consolation goals.

Final, 5-2 Bruins.

Game notes

• Hard to find too much to complain about tonight! Five different goal scorers, ten guys with a point or more…Charlie Coyle and Kevin Shattenkirk were the only ones to put up a minus, if you’re looking for people to yell at (kidding).
• Both Mason Lohrei made a nice contribution on Heinen’s goal, first with a good keep-in then some nice patience/confidence to successful deke a Sabre just inside the blue line.
• Owen Power is a good player and will likely go on to have a very nice NHL career, but I have no idea what he was trying to do on that Steen goal.
• I don’t mean to pile on Buffalo too much and it’s silly to draw too many conclusions based on one game, but I remember Sabres fans making an awful lot of noise after Devon Levi had a nice game against the B’s in the preseason. He’s still got plenty of work to do.
• Buffalo was a dark horse pick to make some noise by many this offseason. Their disappointing(ish) start wasn’t insurmountable, but head coach Don Granato noted postgame that they expect Thompson to miss “significant time.” He returned from the leg injury so it may be the hand/wrist/arm that’s the problem. Buffalo will have a hard time righting the ship if he’s out for months.
• It was a tidy game for Steen, who continues to impress in his role: a goal, a hit, two shots in a shade over ten minutes on the ice.

The B’s will now enjoy a nice little break at home, as they’re off until Montreal comes to town on Saturday night.