Alex Tuch netted the game-winning power-play goal with 10.7 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the visiting Buffalo Sabres (27-33-6, 60 points) past the Boston Bruins (30-30-9, 69 points) 3-2 on Monday night.
Stationed at the front of Boston goaltender Joonas Korpisalo’s net, Tuch deflected Owen Power’s shot from the top of the left circle to send Buffalo to its second straight win and third in four games.
Power led the Sabres with three points, including a tying goal at 12:48 of the second period, and two assists. Peyton Krebs also scored for Buffalo, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves.
Both of Boston’s goals came in the first frame. Morgan Geekie finished with a goal and an assist to pace the Bruins, and Pavel Zacha added the other tally.
Korpisalo stopped 27 shots, including the visitors’ first five of overtime.
In the opening minute of a back-and-forth extra period, Boston star David Pastrnak dove in front of an Alex Tuch shot that hit the post and likely would have resulted in a game-winning goal.
The Sabres finished the extra period a man up following Marat Khusnutdinov’s tripping penalty at 2:51.
They finished 2-for-4 on the power play and had a 30-19 edge in shots.
The goaltenders also dueled during a scoreless third, extending the game past regulation.
One of Korpisalo’s best saves came with 12:01 left, as he lunged back across the crease to take an open net away from former Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton.
At the other end, Luukkonen sent aside Nikita Zadorov’s shot from the high slot with 9:25 to go and then held Elias Lindholm’s close-range chance against the left post with 5:14 left.
The Sabres controlled the game early and converted on the opening power play at 4:19 of the first. Krebs buried a hard wrist shot from the left circle after receiving a centering pass from linemate Jack Quinn.
After a scoreless 51-second 5-on-3 advantage, the hosts flipped the game their way later in the opening period. Zacha made it 1-1 at 13:00, finishing an open shot near the left post following Geekie’s between-the-legs move to send a pass across the crease.
Geekie found the net himself just 2:13 later, sneaking ahead of the Buffalo defense as Parker Wotherspoon sent a stretch pass up the middle of the rink. He slid the puck around Luukkonen and inside the post to finish the partial breakaway.
Just over five minutes after Luukkonen’s save on a Pastrnak break, Power buried a game-tying snipe from the left faceoff circle to the top corner at 12:48 of the middle period.
–Field Level Media
