BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ryan Spooner scored in regulation and the shootout to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

Brad Marchand helped Boston erase a two-goal deficit, and Tuukka Rask made 26 saves in the win.

Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres.

Spooner had the lone goal in the shootout. Rask denied Brian Gionta, Kane and Ryan O’Reilly.

Buffalo had a two-goal lead for 58 seconds early in the second period before Spooner backhanded his own rebound past prone goalie Chad Johnson to make it 2-1.

The Bruins carried that momentum past the midway part of the period, and Johnson was forced to make a pair of in-tight stops on Jimmy Hayes.

Advertisement

Jack Eichel’s giveaway at the Boston blue line sent the Bruins on an odd-man rush, but Johnson swung his leg to make a backdoor stop. At the other end, Rask scooped up Jamie McGinn’s rebound.

Boston had two prime chances to beat Johnson in the first 30 seconds of the third, but Zdeno Chara took a tripping penalty moments after Patrice Bergeron tipped a shot past Johnson but wide of the net.

Marchand tied it with his 23rd of the season soon after Boston killed the penalty, dangling Zach Bogosian on the way to roofing an odd-angled backhand over Johnson at 2:44 of the third.

Johnson stuffed Hayes’ attempt with his left arm midway through the third.

Eichel came close to restoring Buffalo’s lead when he carried the puck deep into the slot before firing a wrist shot high and wide of the net.

Kane took a slashing penalty in overtime, and Johnson spread out in the crease to make a low save of Bergeron’s point-blank snap shot.

Advertisement

It was Rask’s turn to shine when Bergeron gave Buffalo its own overtime power play 2:50 in.

The Bruins killed off an early penalty in the first period, but Buffalo kept applying pressure. Johan Larsson drifted into the slot and wristed a hard shot toward the right corner, but Rask waffled the puck out of play.

At the other end, Matt Beleskey took a high, hard shot of his own that Johnson pushed wide of the net.

Kane fed Gionta on a 3-on-1 only to see the Sabres captain ring a shot off the right post, but Buffalo found the rebound. After a few more passes, Kane finished off Gionta’s feed to make it 1-0.

The Sabres doubled their lead when Reinhart scored 47 seconds into the second. Mark Pysyk’s point shot through traffic picked up a screen from Chara and changed directions to beat Rask.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.