In Buffalo, Charlie Coyle hit for a double on Wednesday night, and the visiting Boston Bruins handed the Sabres a 4-1 loss.
Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves in the win.
Bruins improved to 20-7-6.
“Anytime you can win, it always helps,” Boston’s Jake DeBrusk said. “I think that means there’s lots of things that we’re doing right, and as a group, we didn’t like how we [went into] the break. Had a couple days to reset and came out with a good effort tonight, had some good goaltending and just rolled with it.”
Erik Johnson was the lone striker for the Sabres, his goal early in the third period ruined the shutout bid by Swayman.
“Special teams, we gave up three goals on the penalty kill, didn’t convert on the power play, even 5-on-5,” Johnson said. “Bottom line, special teams, Achilles’ heel for us tonight.”
Boston took a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza.
“The thing is, coming back after the (holiday) break, three days off, it’s not going to be a real clean game,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “We had moments where we struggled with getting back into it, too, but overall, it was a pretty good hockey game by us.”
Mason Lohrei scored at 4:19 of the first to stake the Bruins to a 1-0 lead.
Coyle hit for his first of the night, off the power play, at 13:42 for a 2-0 advantage headed to the middle frame.
“We always want to get out to a lead if you can, and then it’s up to us to push that lead, build on our game, play the right way,” Coyle said. “We had to get that one back. To be a good team, there’s going to be little lapses, right? But it’s up to us. If they have a good shift, that next line comes out. … We’ve just got to keep building on our game.”
The Sabres dropped to 14-18-4.
“It’s something now that you mentally have to get over and move on,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “You’ve got to move on fast. … You can’t have drag from what you didn’t do or didn’t get done, and that obviously is a challenge that you’ve got to move on quick.”
In the second period, Coyle added his double, again off the power play, at 4:18.
Boston connected for their third straight power play marker when Morgan Geekie scored at 13:44 for a 4-0 lead headed to third period.
Johnson;s goal cut the deficit to 4-1 at 5:11 of the third.
“We’re overthinking everything,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “We’re double touching pucks. I’m double touching on the goal line, putting them out of guys’ reach, shooting when we shouldn’t. We’re not shooting when we should.
“We’re passing up good opportunities, we’re not supporting each other. It just kind of adds up. It’s a snowball effect, and each guy has to look at one another and try to work for one another, because it’s five against four. I mean, we shouldn’t be out there and getting outchanced. … It’s confidence, it’s swagger. We obviously don’t have it right now, and we’re going to work to get it back.”
Devon Levi made 21 saves in the loss.
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