Bruins Fall 4-1 in Buffalo, ‘We Have to Move Forward’ 

BUFFALO –– The Boston Bruins opened their five-game road trip with a 4-1 loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at KeyBank Center.

“Our division is so close. We have to really start winning games, and this is something we have to focus on moving forward,” Pavel Zacha said. “It just wasn’t good enough today. So we have to really figure out how to respond to this loss.”​

David Pastrnak put the Bruins up 1-0 at 11:56 of the first period. Morgan Geekie got the puck in the corner and popped it over to Pastrnak in the right circle, where he lasered it past Buffalo netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for his 15th goal of the season. It extended Pastrnak’s point streak to three games, too.

The Sabres came storming back in the second, though, with three unanswered goals. Ryan McLeod found the 1-1 equalizer with a snapshot at 1:39 before Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson made it 3-1 by the 7:54 mark.

“Tonight we had periods where we played really well, and we had periods where we [did not]. We just have to stick a 60-minute game together,” Hampus Lindholm said. “We know we’ve shown in each game that we can be successful and push teams back; we just have to be doing it more consistently.”

Boston had 2:27 remaining on the penalty kill to open the third, during which it held Buffalo scoreless. However, Josh Norris’ empty-net tally at 19:45 brought the contest to its final 4-1 scoreline.

“We want to play with energy, and we want to play with passion. I think the best way to do that is from a place of feeling good and having fun,” Sean Kuraly said. “For whatever reason, it’s a little harder for us right now. But, we’ve got to get back to that. And we’ll find a way to.”​

The Bruins are back in action on Monday when they face the Calgary Flames for a 9 p.m. ET matchup at Scotiabank Saddledome.

“Today, since the start to probably the finish, was just not a good day that we wanted. But you know what, it’s over. I think we all have to analyze this one today, and we have to move forward because it’s not going to get easier,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “It’s definitely more on us now just to get back to our foundation, back to our game. And it starts with a good practice tomorrow, and hopefully a good game in Calgary.”