BUFFALO, N.Y. — Paval Zacha scored 38 seconds into overtime, David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists and the Boston Bruins rallied for a 4-3 win over the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.
Casey Mittelstadt scored with six minutes remaining to tie the game, and Viktor Arvidsson also scored. Boston bounced back from a 4-2 loss to Toronto a night earlier, and moved into a tie in points with Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division standings, three points ahead of Ottawa and the New York Islanders for the first wild-card berth.
Joonas Korpisalo finished with 22 saves.
Jason Zucker scored twice and Zach Benson also scored for Buffalo, which is 12-1-2 in its last 15 games. The Sabres still earned a point to tie Carolina atop the Eastern Conference and move within 10 points of clinching their first playoff berth in 15 years.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves.
The Bruins won after both teams squandered one-goal leads in the third period.
Pastrnak set up the decisive goal by gaining the Buffalo zone and attracting three defenders. He then slipped a pass to Zacha, who snapped a shot from the left circle that beat Luukkonen through the legs.
Pasternak extended his point streak to 11 games, during which he has seven goals and 18 points. He also reached the 90-point plateau for the fifth time in his career.
The Sabres appeared to take control when Benson and Zucker scored 31 seconds apart to go up 3-2 with 14:06 left in regulation.
Mittelstadt, however, scored while appearing in his 500th career game, and against his former team.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin’s fiancee, Carolina Matovac, is back in Buffalo and attended her first Sabres game since she nearly died after her heart failed while the couple vacationed in France last summer. She spent much of the past seven months in Sweden recuperating from heart transplant surgery.
Up next
Bruins: Host Minnesota on Saturday
Sabres: Host Detroit on Friday night
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