Bruins defeat Sabres, strengthen hold in East Division

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins strengthened their hold on a Stanley Cup Playoff position in the MassMutual East Division with a 6-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Saturday.

The Bruins (30-14-6) are eight points in front of the fifth-place New York Rangers for the last of four berths in the eight-team division.
Craig Smith scored a hat trick, Jeremy Swayman made 17 saves, and David Krejci had three assists for Boston, which won its third straight game and ninth in its past 11.
"It's that time of year where you're focusing internally and where your game is at," Smith said. "I think the halfway mark … is kind of a report card, and I thought everybody kind of made a good switch. If you didn't like where you were, didn't like how you were playing, I think there were some changes that you could make. And I think that we've done that."

Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed three goals on 29 shots through two periods before leaving with an injury.
Dustin Tokarski made 11 saves in relief for the Sabres (13-32-7), who have lost four consecutive games, including 5-2 here Thursday. They were outshot 43-19, 17-4 in the first period, and lost to Boston for the seventh time in eight games this season.
"It's added on to the tough day," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "That's obviously a big one. This is a great opportunity for him to get some minutes and now that's in question. Every now and then you have a really tough day. Everybody had a really tough day today. His [injury] was the finish, but he battled extremely well up to that point."

Smith gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a tap-in from the top of the crease at 1:21 of the first. Riley Sheahan's shorthanded goal at 12:35 tied it 1-1.
Sean Kuraly put Boston ahead 2-1 at 16:38 when he scored his first goal in 31 games, since Feb. 5.
"It feels good," Kuraly said. "That's the name of the game, I guess. There's a lot of other things you try to take pride in, but at the end of the day, putting the puck in the net feels pretty good."
Patrice Bergeron scored at 5:36 of the second period to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. Nick Ritchie made it 4-1 at 3:18 of the third period, and Smith extended it to 5-1 at 5:31.
"We didn't play our game, really," Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. "They came out really hard, they needed these points and they [played] a really good game. They don't give us anything, so I think a little bit of frustration came through and we slipped away from our game."
Arttu Ruotsalainen scored for Buffalo at 7:02 to make it 5-2.
Smith completed his second NHL hat trick during a power play at 14:05 with a redirection of Krejci's pass for a 6-2 Bruins lead.
"It was great," Smith said. "Krejci told me before our shift, he goes, 'Just get your stick down, I'm going to try to shoot it at you every time.' It just happened to be the first one he shot, so I was just laughing with him the whole time. It was cool seeing the hats fly, I don't get to see it very often for myself."
NOTES:Buffalo forward Casey Mittelstadt had two assists to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists). ... Sheahan's goal was the fifth shorthanded by the Sabres this season and sixth allowed by the Bruins. … Boston forwards Karson Kuhlman and Jake DeBrusk replaced Chris Wagner (undisclosed) and Trent Frederic (healthy scratch). Kuhlman had a game-high six shots on goal. ... The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders have clinched berths in the East Division.