BUFFALO, N.Y.

Kyle Okposo and the Eastern Conference’s last-place Buffalo Sabres head into the uncertainty of the NHL’s trade deadline sure of one thing.

They were better than the retooled Bruins by beating them 4-1 to spoil forward Rick Nash’s Boston debut.

What happens before the trade deadline hits today is anyone’s guess with the Sabres anticipated to make several deals, including one involving forward Evander Kane.

“I’ve been through it before,” Okposo said. “It’s obviously hard to see teammates go. That comes with not having the season that we want. So we just kind of have to sit back and wait and see, and be professional.”

Okposo and Benoit Pouliot scored on consecutive shots in the first period in a game the Sabres never trailed. Evan Rodrigues and Marco Scandella also scored, and Chad Johnson stopped 34 shots for the Sabres, who snapped an 0-5-2 home skid against the Bruins. Buffalo had not defeated Boston at home since a 5-4 overtime win Feb. 26, 2014.

The Bruins, coming off a 4-3 loss at Toronto a night earlier, started flat while closing a five-game road swing on a day that began with them acquiring Nash in a multi-player trade with the New York Rangers.

Patrice Bergeron refused to use the road trip or the trade as reasons for the Bruins losing consecutive games for the first time since going 0-1-1 on Dec. 14-16.

“There was only one new guy today,” Bergeron said. “We should know the system. We should know where to be and it wasn’t there.”

Anton Khudobin was not sharp in goal. He allowed four goals on 24 shots, including being beaten through the legs on Scandella’s goal from the right boards that put Buffalo up 4- 1 in the opening minutes of the third period.

Next — Bruins: Host Carolina on Tuesday night to open six-game homestand.