BUFFALO, N.Y. — Charlie Coyle scored two points, Brad Marchand had two assists and the Boston Bruins defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1, on Wednesday night.
Mason Lowrey and Morgan Geekie also scored for the Bruins, who ended their losing streak at four. Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves.
“As a group, we obviously didn’t like the way the break ended,” forward Jake DeBrusk said. “We had a few days to reset, but tonight we came out with a good effort, had some good goaltending and just rolled along.”
Eric Johnson scored for the Sabers. Devon Levi made 21 saves.
The Bruins scored on their first three power play chances, and special teams played a big role in the result. Meanwhile, the Sabers went 0-for-6 on the man advantage.
“The last line is special teams, that’s for sure,” Johnson said. “They scored when they needed to and took advantage of their chances, especially on the power play. That was the difference.”
Loley scored the first goal 4 minutes and 19 seconds into the game, converting a shot rebound past Levy.
Coyle extended the lead to two points with a power-play score with 6:18 left in the first period. Jake DeBrusk got the puck behind the Buffalo net and found Coyle wide open in front of Buffalo’s crease. Coyle then buried the one-timer.
Coyle scored his second power-play goal of the game 4:18 into the second goal when his shot hit Johnson’s skate and went into the net.
“We always want to extend our lead if we can, and it’s up to us to push that lead and build our game and play the right way,” Coyle said. “We need to keep building our game.”
Geeky scored the Bruins’ power play goal to make it 4-0 with 6:16 remaining. After Charlie McAvoy’s shot bounced off the end boards, Geeky fired the puck toward the net, but Levi, sprawled out, was unable to make the save. This was Geeky’s fourth goal in seven games.
Johnson scored on a slap shot from the right circle 5:11 into the third inning to put the Sabers ahead.
Buffalo’s No. 1 center, Tage Thompson, missed the game due to personal reasons.
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Sabers: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.