BUFFALO, N.Y. – Benoit Pouliot scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout, and the Boston Bruins rallied from two two-goal deficits Wednesday night for their 10th straight win, a 4-3 victory against the Buffalo Sabres.
Tyler Seguin had a goal and assist, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara also scored, and Tim Thomas finished with 31 saves for Boston (13-7) in the first meeting between the teams since Milan Lucic bowled over Sabres goalie Ryan Miller 11 days ago. Miller sustained a concussion on the play and is still sidelined.
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The Sabres didn’t go after Lucic at the time, but Paul Gaustad and Lucic squared off just 1:23 into this one, with Lucic landing several rights to Gaustad’s head and body.
It is the Bruins’ first 10-game winning streak since Dec. 12 to Jan. 1, 2009.
T.J. Brennan scored his first NHL goal in his first game, and Christian Ehrhoff and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres (12-8-1), who lost their second straight.
Jhonas Enroth finished with 36 saves in making his fifth straight start since Miller suffered his injury.
The game had plenty of buildup after the Lucic-Miller incident, and there was a charged-up and playoff-type atmosphere in the sellout crowd.
The teams didn’t disappoint, especially in the first period when they combined for 36 penalty minutes and 28 shots on goal.
With 8:27 to go in the first, Gaustad was involved in a scrum that started in the right corner in the Bruins’ zone when Marchand originally hit Nathan Gerbe along the boards.
Gaustad moved in and shoved Marchand before Adam McQuaid began cross-checking Gaustad to the ice. All 10 players joined in the pile, with Chara and Buffalo defenseman Robyn Regehr ultimately drifting away to fight.
McQuaid was given a double-minor, and Ehrhoff cashed in with a slap shot from the right point to stake the Sabres to a 1-0 lead at 11:56 of the first.
The goal snapped Thomas’ road shutout run at 234:05, and his overall shutout streak was stopped at 145 minutes.
With 1:24 left in the second period, Drew Stafford of Buffalo bumped into Thomas. Boston defenseman Andrew Ference immediately grabbed Stafford and the two began to wrestle.
Chara made it 3-3 at 3:35 of the third period on a power play.
Down by a pair of goals after the first period, the Bruins cut the lead in half when Seguin one-timed a shot in from the left point on a power play to make it 2-1 just 31/2 minutes into the second.
Brennan pushed the Sabres’ edge to 3-1 with just under nine minutes left in the second period, whipping a shot in from the right circle.
Marchand made it 3-2 with four minutes remaining in the middle period, lifting a wrist shot in from a tight angle to the left of Enroth.
Vanek increased Buffalo’s lead to 2-0 on a power-play goal with 4:38 left in the first period, wristing a shot from the slot past Thomas.
NOTES: Sabres center Jochen Hecht played in his first game of the season after missing the first 20 with a concussion. He replaced right wing Patrick Kaleta in the lineup. Buffalo right wing Brad Boyes left with under four minutes remaining in the first period and didn’t return after Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg fell into and rolled over Boyes’ right leg, causing Boyes’ knee to buckle. The Sabres played their first game without defenseman Tyler Myers, who is out for at least a month with a broken wrist.
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