Bruins defeat Sabres, extend winning streak to four

BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask made 31 saves to help the Boston Bruins win their fourth straight game, 2-1 against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Saturday.

Chris Wagner and David Backes scored for Boston (24-14-4), which matched its longest winning streak of the season.
"I thought we played as good as I can remember," Rask said. "For a long time they had nothing going on, and then obviously they hung in there. They got some kind of momentum there at times and then in the third they kept pushing and got some chances, but we hung in there."
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Bruins highlights]
Rasmus Ristolainen scored, and Linus Ullmark made 39 saves for Buffalo (22-14-6), which has lost of its past five games (1-3-1). The Sabres played without center Jack Eichel for the second straight game because of an upper-body injury; he's day to day.
"We made some soft plays. Maybe there wasn't some communication; we didn't win enough battles," Ristolainen said. "Of course they played well too, but you know that happens and you just got to hang in there and grind and get some dirty ones."

Wagner thought he gave the Bruins a lead 20 seconds into the first period, but the goal was disallowed because of goaltender interference against Sean Kuraly. The call was upheld after video review.
But Wagner took advantage of his second chance to make it 1-0 when Noel Acciari found him in the slot at 10:10. It was fitting tribute for Wagner to his grandfather, who died Friday.
"Maybe he was watching out for me, making the puck follow me around, who knows," Wagner said. "But he was probably laughing after that first goal was disallowed. He would drive me around when my parents couldn't, went to all my games, watched all these games even up until the Winter Classic [on Tuesday], so it means a lot."

Backes, who returned from a three-game suspension, extended the lead to 2-0 at 2:00 of the second period. He picked up a rebound in the defensive zone and skated on a 2-on-1 with David Krejci before beating Ullmark with a wrist shot.
It was Backes' first goal in 10 games.
"Trying to do my part," Backes said. "I think we found a role a little bit and each guy trying to do their part fits together pretty well."
Ristolainen ended Rask's shutout at 17:22 of the third period for the 2-1 final with a wrist shot from the right circle after intercepting a pass in the neutral zone.
"I think it was just our lack of execution fed right into their transition," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "You know I really like the way we responded in the third period. We had a really good, solid push. We're going to leave some holes open because we're trying to tie the game up, but we miss an opportunity to get back into the game and tie it up."

They said it

"I mean that's the beauty of having a good goaltender keeping you in games. We've got to do a better job of pushing pucks forwards and giving him some help. We can't rely on our goaltenders every night." -- Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian on goalie Linus Ullmark
"Yeah, I feel good; I felt good for a long time. I think, you know, every game is different and you just try to be there and give your team a chance. Play good hockey, eliminating good scoring chances, so I think that goes to show we are playing good team hockey." -- Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who has won his past three starts

Need to know

Buffalo failed to score on its only power play, which was awarded at 7:42 of the third period. Boston went 0-for-2 with the man-advantage. … The Bruins' other four-game winning streak this season was October 4-13, 2018.

What's next

Sabres: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, MSG, NHL.TV)
Bruins: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)