The Bruins were a mere 10.7 seconds away, and two seconds away from Marat Khusnutdinov exiting the box and rejoining the play, from potentially grabbing a second point Monday night against the Sabres.
But as has been the case for the Bruins again and again this season, those final seconds proved to be damning, as 10.7 seconds was more than enough time left on the clock for the Sabres’ Alex Tuch to pop a power-play goal into the Boston cage for a 3-2 Sabres overtime victory at TD Garden.
🎥 David Pastrnak and the #NHLBruins react following Monday's overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 18, 2025
Full postgame reaction âž¡ï¸ https://t.co/MGJfhJIKaQ pic.twitter.com/2UZp7qbO1y
Both of Boston’s goals in the loss came in the opening frame, with tallies from Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie, separated by just 2:13. Zacha’s goal was his 14th of the season, while Geekie’s strike continued what’s been an obvious career year for him with his 23rd goal of the campaign.
But from there, the offense seemed to dry up, with just four shots put on Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the second period, and 19 by the night’s end. With the 19-shot effort following up what was a 12-shot outing by the Bruins last Saturday, the Bruins posted back-to-back nights of under 20 shots on goal for the first time since Oct. 1998.
Bruins held under 20 shots in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 1998.
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) March 18, 2025
In goal, the Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo finished with 27 saves, including a dazzling diving stop made on Connor Clifton in the third period and with the game knotted up at 2-2.
7ï¸âƒ£0ï¸âƒ£ SPRAWLS OUT 🙅…â™‚ï¸ pic.twitter.com/qhE6S1KvYC
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 18, 2025
With this mini-homestand behind the club, the Bruins will now begin a stretch of five straight games on the road beginning with a Thursday night showdown with Bruce Cassidy’s Golden Knights out in Vegas, and will not return to TD Garden for a home game until Apr. 1 against the Capitals.