Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) – Anders Lindback posted 44 saves and Tyler
Ennis scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Buffalo Sabres topped the
Boston Bruins 2-1 on Tuesday.
Ennis, Buffalo’s first shooter in the skills competition, faked a shot and
proceeded to send a wrister over a sprawled Niklas Svedberg. Lindback stopped
Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Torey Krug in the shootout to seal the
outcome.
Rasmus Ristolainen scored a power-play goal early in the third period and
Lindback earned his first win with the Sabres, who ended a seven-game skid.
“We kept the game tight, then had a big third, said Ristolainen. “We kept
working hard. We earned it.
Loui Eriksson provided Boston’s lone marker and Svedberg made 23 saves in
defeat.
After a scoreless middle stanza, Ristolainen tied the game 1:23 into the
third. His wrist from the blue line deflected off Boston defenseman Matt
Bartkowski’s skate and into the net while on the man advantage.
Lindback came up big for the Sabres with just over five minutes to play as he
denied Adam McQuaid’s slap shot with his blocker to keep it a tied game.
The Buffalo netminder also made multiple saves during the extra session,
including a Chris Kelly blast from the high slot, with under a minute to play
to send the game into a shootout.
The Sabres, playing for the third time in four nights, had trouble early on as
they were outshot 14-3 in the opening stanza.
Midway through the first, McQuaid’s shot from the left circle caromed off a
Buffalo defender’s skate and off the endboards straight to Eriksson, who
tapped it into the net to open the scoring.
Game Notes
Boston goaltender Jeremy Smith was recalled from Providence (AHL) and served
as the backup since Tuukka Rask didn’t suit up due to soreness … The Bruins
won their previous four games against the Sabres.
