Postgame Report | Sabres unable to make up early deficit against Bruins

The Buffalo Sabres were unable to overcome a difficult start Sunday afternoon in a 7-0 loss to the Boston Bruins at KeyBank Center.
Boston opened the scoring 15 seconds into the game and scored three in each of the first and third periods.
"You fall behind, you start chasing the game against a team that's feeling their swagger like they are and it's a little more challenging," Sabres coach Don Granato.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started in goal for Buffalo and made 18 saves.

Patrice Bergeron, Garnet Hathaway, Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle and Charlie McAvoy all scored for Boston. DeBrusk finished with a team-high four points.
Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves to post his second consecutive shutout for the Bruins.
Buffalo's power play finished 0-for-4 and the team was 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
"We're going to be challenged greater psychologically and physically this time of year," Granato said. "You've got to learn to let go. Sometimes you can't let go fast enough to react."

Video: Condensed Game: Bruins @ Sabres

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How it happened

FIRST PERIOD
The Bruins took the early lead when Brad Marchand, who was working behind the net, slid a pass through Luukkonen's pads from below the goal line to Bergeron who finished it to put Boston on the board.
"That first one (goal) is on our line. That can't happen to start the game," forward Zemgus Girgensons said. "We've talked about staying five-tight and we just have gotten away from those little details."
Hathaway made it 2-0 when he took a stretch pass from Jakub Zboril and slipped behind the Sabres defense and beat Luukkonen on the rush. Later in the period, DeBrusk scored for the Bruins to make it 3-0 with 8:20 to play.
Hathaway went off for slashing at 13:05 to give the Sabres the first power play of the period. Jack Quinn had a chance for a one-timer in between the circles as the penalty expired but was denied by Swayman.
The Sabres got a second crack with the man advantage when Bergeron was nailed for holding at 17:02 but couldn't find the back of the net.
SECOND PERIOD
Buffalo got a pair of power-play chances in the second period but couldn't make a dent in the Boston lead. Pavel Zacha went to the penalty box for interfering with Victor Olofsson, and JJ Peterka drew a slashing penalty on Zboril in the final two minutes, but the Sabres couldn't solve Swayman.
Boston appeared to extend its lead to 4-0 less than five minutes into the period when Tyler Bertuzzi redirected a rebound past Luukkonen. After a short review, officials determined Bertuzzi kicked the puck into the net.
Three minutes later, Hampus Lindholm scored to officially give Boston a 4-0 lead.
Frustrations boiled over when Dylan Cozens and Boston's Trent Frederic dropped the gloves with 6:34 to play in the period. Each was sent off with five-minute major for fighting.
Zboril went back to the box for slashing with 1:15 left, but Casey Mittelstadt was called for slashing in a scrum as the second period ended to negate the man advantage.
Buffalo finished with four shots in 7:15 of power-play time.
THIRD PERIOD
Swayman made a pair of stellar saves to hold the Sabres scoreless in the early stages of the third period. He denied Quinn and Peterka on consecutive chances and then robbed Peyton Krebs on the doorstep.
Pastrnak and Coyle each scored midway through the third period as Boston pulled away, and McAvoy closed out the scoring with 2:01 to play.

What we learned

1. The Sabres are learning to manage the pressure of a playoff push in the late stages of the season. Granato said this time of year comes with heightened expectations that the team must learn to navigate.
"We're in a position that's more stress, more urgency, and that is a damn good thing because that's where we wanted to be," Granato said. "We want to be in that situation where you have a team like this or a group like this that is experiencing a lot of that stress for the first time and has to adjust to it."
2. Defenseman Riley Stillman echoed Girgensons in emphasizing attention to detail on defense over the final 13 games of the season.
"I think we just have to have a full commitment to playing defense," Stillman said. "Obviously, we're a team that can score goals. We've got some serious speed. We can do all of those little things, we just have to have a little bit more of a commitment, a little bit more of a will there and we'll be okay."

Up next

The Sabres have two games remaining in their three-game homestand. They'll host the Nashville Predators at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at KeyBank Center. The game will air live on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage on MSG starting at 6:30.
Buffalo will take on New Jersey on Friday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Long Island for a 5 p.m. puck drop against the Islanders the next night.
Tickets for all remaining home games are on sale now.