Brad Marchand scored a first period goal that turned out to be the game winner, and Tuuka Rask got his first shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins won their fifth straight game with a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY.
Marchand backhanded a rebound into the net off a shot through traffic for his 24th goal of the season at 8:06 of the first period. David Pastrnak and Mike Reilly each picked up their 22nd assist of the year. Rask was electric in net, making several Grade A stops. Connor Clifton padded the lead with a slapshot from the right point at 3:03 of the second period. The shot was initially stopped by Buffalo goalie Dustin Tokarski, but trickled through his legs and into the goal. Sean Kuraly and Curtis Lazar assisted.
The teams combined to go 0-10 on the powerplay on the night. Rask ended with 32 saves, while Tokarski made 39 in the loss. Buffalo is now 12-27-7 on the season. Boston (26-12-6) will play two more games with the Sabres in New York on Thursday and Friday night.
