National Hockey League
Boston 3, Buffalo 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 29, 2019
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Brad Kovachik
Attendance: 17850

Jake DeBrusk scored two power-play goals over an 18-second span in the third period, and Tuukka Rask finished with 24 saves to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night.

David Pastrnak scored his league-leading 29th goal and also had an assist for the Bruins, who improved their NHL-best home record to 14-1-8. Steven Kampfer added two assists as Boston swept a post-Christmas home-and-home with the Sabres.

Rask extended his streak without a regulation defeat at home to 15 games (10-0-5), the longest by a Bruins goaltender since Gilles Gilbert went 16-0-0 with a tie in 1973-74.

Rasmus Ristolainen had a goal and an assist, and Curtis Lazar also scored a goal for Buffalo, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Linus Ullmark had 19 saves.

With the game tied 1-1 early in the third period, Sabres center Johan Larsson was called for two minors, one for tripping and another for hooking during the delayed penalty, and DeBrusk and the Bruins took full advantage.

DeBrusk redirected a Kampfer shot from the high slot past Ullmark's blocker side for the first goal, then scored again 18 seconds later when he fired a bad-angle shot from near the left goal line that hit Ullmark in the skate and caromed up inside the left post for his 11th goal of the season.

Lazar cut the Boston lead to 3-2 when he scored on a delayed penalty, knocking in a rebound of a Ristolainen shot for his second goal of the season. But the Sabres, despite having a 6-on-4 advantage for nearly a minute late in the game, couldn't garner a tying goal.

Boston, despite being outshot 7-2 in the first period, took a 1-0 lead when Pastrnak finished a two-on-one with Brad Marchand. His wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle went into the top right corner to extend his points streak to seven games (three goals, nine assists).

Buffalo tied it at the 6:37 mark of the second period on Ristolainen's fourth goal of the season, finishing a two-on-one with Sam Reinhart with a snap shot from the right circle that trickled through Rask's pads. The puck was helped in by the stick Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara as he tried to clear it by the goal line.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Buffalo   Boston
Rasmus Ristolainen 2 Points Jake DeBrusk 2
Rasmus Ristolainen 1 Goals Jake DeBrusk 2
Rasmus Ristolainen 1 Assists Steven Kampfer 2
N/A Power Play Goals Jake DeBrusk 2
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Linus Ullmark .864 Save Percentage Tuukka Rask .923
Linus Ullmark 19 Saves Tuukka Rask 24
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Buffalo 26 2 0-3 4-6 22 25
Boston 22 3 2-6 3-3 6 26
Upcoming Games
  • Boston will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Bruins have a W/L % of .750 after a win and .375 after a loss.
  • Buffalo will play their next game at home against Tampa Bay. The Sabres have a W/L % of .444 after a win and .409 after a loss.