Bruins 2, Sabres 1 (OT)
BOSTON -- Brad Marchand scored on a penalty shot in overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at TD Garden.
The Bruins left winger flipped a backhand shot over Buffalo goaltender Robin Lehner to give Boston a second straight win over its Atlantic Division opponent.
It marked the second straight game in which the teams needed extra time to determine a result after the Bruins edged the Sabres two nights earlier in a shootout.
The game appeared headed for another shootout after 60 minutes, but 2:28 into overtime, Marchand drove into the Buffalo zone with the puck and knocked the stick away from Buffalo's Rasmus Ristolainen with a deft move. The Sabres defenseman hauled Marchand down in front of Lehner and the winger calmly converted, improving to 3 of 4 lifetime on penalty shots.
Lehner finished with 36 saves and Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask made 37.
The Bruins improved to 28-18-6, tying them for second in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres fell to 21-26-6 but moved ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for seventh in the division.
Despite going without a shot in the first 6:55, the Bruins came out of the first period with a 1-0 lead thanks to left winger Loui Eriksson. Right winger David Pastrnak's forecheck started a pretty play that saw center David Krejci pass to Pastrnak, who found Eriksson alone to Lehner's left with all the time in the world to put the Bruins up 1-0.
Eriksson's goal snapped his nine-game goal-less streak and a four-game point-less streak.
Rask made a good reflex save on Sabres center Brian Gionta early in the period but was otherwise mostly untested.
Right winger Sam Reinhart evened it for the Sabres at 10:53 of the second period. A turnover by Bruins right winger Brett Connolly near the blue line brought the puck to center Ryan O'Reilly behind the net and he found left winger Jamie McGinn in the slot. Rask stopped McGinn's shot, but Reinhart tapped the rebound home for his second goal in as many games, both against the Bruins.
Both teams had good looks in the early part of the third period. Pastrnak put a shot off the crossbar behind Lehner 3:42 into the period, and O'Reilly had a deflected shot wind up on his stick with a wide-open net five minutes later, but he put his attempt over the bar.
McGinn had a chance to give the Sabres the lead with 7:13 to go in regulation after getting sprung in alone on Rask, but Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg made a desperation dive to break up McGinn's bid and the Bruins killed the ensuing tripping penalty.
NOTES: Sabres LW Marcus Foligno missed Saturday's game after suffering a lower-body injury during Boston's shootout win in Buffalo on Feb. 4. ... The Sabres called up LW Daniel Catenacci on Friday, and the 2011 third-round selection made his NHL debut Saturday night. ... Bruins D Joe Morrow was inserted into the lineup after four straight healthy scratches. D Colin Miller took Morrow's place as a scratch. ... Sabres D Mike Weber re-entered the lineup after two straight scratches, while D Jake McCabe was scratched for the first time in six games. ... Bruins LW Loui Eriksson entered Saturday's game three goals short of 200 for his NHL career. ... Sabres G Robin Lehner has faced the Bruins more times than any other team, going 3-6-2 in 12 games against Boston. ... Buffalo C Tyler Ennis skated for the second straight day on Saturday after the team's morning practice. Ennis entered Saturday night having missed the previous 15 games with a concussion.