BOSTON — Mark Recchi’s celebration was a bit delayed.

First he had to wait for the whistle to stop play. Then the referees had to get the ruling from the video judge to see that Recchi indeed had tipped Dennis Seidenberg’s slap shot into the net in overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Additional Photos

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas makes a pad save on a shot by former Portland Pirate Nathan Gerbe of the Sabres Tuesday night during Boston’s 3-2 overtime victory. The winning goal came with the Bruins on a power play. The Associated Press

“I knew right away it was in, but then you’ve got to keep playing because you just don’t know,” Recchi said. “It went in the net, that’s all that matters.”

Recchi’s goal came 2:11 into overtime, but play didn’t stop until 49 seconds later. Boston fans, who had been booing when the referee originally waved off the goal, cheered when the replay was put on the scoreboard and began heading out to beat traffic even before the call had been overturned.

“I was just hoping for a quick whistle so we could look at it and call it a goal,” Seidenberg said.

It was a bizarre end to a game that started slowly but finished at a furious pace.

The Bruins ended Ryan Miller’s eight-period shutout streak in the first, then had to rally in the third period to force overtime. Boston got a power play in the extra time when Luke Adam, who scored his first NHL goal in the second period, raked Marc Savard across the face with his stick for a high-sticking double minor.

“It’s a tough way to lose,” said Miller, who had posted consecutive shutouts and hadn’t allowed a goal in 161 minutes, 35 seconds dating to Nov. 27.

Miller made 33 saves for Buffalo, and Tim Thomas stopped 28 shots to help Boston bounce back from a shootout loss to Toronto on Saturday.

CANADIENS 4, SENATORS 1: Jeff Halpern, Brian Gionta and Roman Hamrlik scored third-period goals and Carey Price made 27 saves as Montreal beat visiting Ottawa for its third straight win.

PANTHERS 4, AVALANCHE 3: Stephen Weiss scored his second goal of the game 43 seconds into overtime to give Florida a win over visiting Colorado.

NOTES: St. Louis Blues center Andy McDonald has a concussion and will be sidelined indefinitely. McDonald was hurt during the Blues’ 2-1 overtime loss Saturday in Edmonton after he hit a rut in the ice and crashed into the leg of Shawn Horcoff of the Oilers. … Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks could be out for up to three weeks with a leg injury he suffered early in Sunday’s win over Calgary.

Related Stories