This week has been a tale of two games for the Boston Bruins.
First-year coach Marco Sturm’s team was embarrassed Monday in a 7-2 loss at the Ottawa Senators before overcoming a slow start the next night by scoring the final five goals to defeat the New York Islanders 5-2.
The Bruins look to continue on the right track on Thursday when they entertain the Atlantic Division rival Buffalo Sabres for the second time this season. Boston’s 3-1 victory over Buffalo on Oct. 11 capped a season-opening, three-game win streak.
“It’s not a surprise that we came out with a win because our mindset and focus were there (against the Islanders),” Boston forward David Pastrnak said. “Mindset can do magical things. … We stayed patient and eventually we got rewarded.”
Tuesday’s win featured contributions from five different Bruins goal-scorers, while Joonas Korpisalo was immense in a 33-save performance to conclude the back-to-back.
Mikey Eyssimont punctuated a three-goal second period with the eventual game-winner, while Morgan Geekie’s insurance marker in the third gave him six goals in his last five games and a team-leading eight on the season.
“He has everything to score 50 in this league,” Pastrnak said of Geekie. “I keep reminding him that he has a heck of a shot and goal-scoring instincts.”
Defenseman Hampus Lindholm returned from a lower-body injury to provide a major boost. He came off injured reserve after missing five straight and eight of the last nine games and proceeded to assist Pastrnak’s tying goal.
“I wanted to hug him after the game, I can tell you that,” Sturm said. “He calmed everything down, made some good plays, good reads. He helped his partner (Andrew Peeke) a lot. He’s just a presence out there that we really missed.”
Buffalo has a four-game point streak (2-0-2) and has lost just one of its last seven (4-1-2), but left points on the table in a pair of 4-3 overtime losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Much like the Bruins coming out of the gates in Ottawa, the Sabres’ latest effort on Tuesday started slowly. Despite going the first 12:46 without registering a shot, Alex Lyon’s play in net kept the Buffalo deficit at 1-0 after one period.
“When we got our legs going and started going north in a hurry, we started looking like a lot better team,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
Josh Dunne’s first NHL goal gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead early in the third, highlighting a strong night with linemates Peyton Krebs and Beck Malenstyn. However, the Sabres could not protect a one-goal lead for the second straight game.
“We’ve got to learn how to defend leads at the end of games because that’s a position that we expect to be in late throughout the year,” Sabres forward Josh Doan said. “(The) last seven (games are) obviously positive, and hopefully we can go find a way to get a win on the road.”
Buffalo is winless on the road (0-2-1).
The Sabres could have a player with New England ties make his season debut for a second straight game. After defenseman Michael Kesselring, who played his high school hockey in New Hampshire, returned on Tuesday, former Boston University forward Jordan Greenway (lower-body injury) is next in line.
“If we can put him in the middle and it works, it would look good for us,” Ruff said of Greenway, who is in his third full season in Buffalo.
