Marat Khusnutdinov scored his first goal of the season at 2:07 of overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
After Fraser Minten made a defensive-zone steal and pass, Khusnutdinov tallied the winner on a wrister from the right side after driving down on an odd-man rush.
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, Morgan Geekie and Mark Kastelic also scored and Joonas Korpisalo made 37 saves in his second straight start for Boston, which has won three of its last four games.
The Bruins survived despite being outshot 40-22 and Buffalo rallying from a 3-1 deficit thanks to back-to-back goals in the third period.
Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin each notched a goal and an assist while Josh Doan also scored for the Sabres, who are 2-0-3 in their last five. Tuch’s goal at 14:25 of the third forced overtime.
Alex Lyon made 18 stops in Buffalo’s goal.
Boston’s Elias Lindholm did not return after suffering a lower-body injury on an apparent knee-on-knee collision with Jordan Greenway in the second period.
After Kastelic gave the Bruins a two-goal lead with 20.6 seconds left in the second, Doan helped Buffalo start the climb back at 7:00 of the third. He banged in the rebound of a long Tuch shot that popped up near the crease.
Tuch leveled the score by slotting home a Dahlin feed with a wrist shot from the slot. The goal stood after Boston’s unsuccessful challenge. The Sabres stayed alive by completing a penalty kill that spilled into the extra session.
Buffalo was unable to take advantage of a dominant start as Korpisalo made eight consecutive saves — including a key stop on Jason Zucker coming to the doorstep — before Boston recorded its first shot nearly halfway through the first period.
The hosts made the most of their opportunities in the opening frame, scoring two goals on their first three shots against Lyon.
Geekie continued his scoring tear — now six straight games for a total of seven goals — with the opening goal at 13:07. He buried a top-shelf snap shot from the right circle after corralling Pastrnak’s cross-ice pass on the power play.
The Boston lead doubled two minutes later when Pastrnak made a takeaway, rushed up ice and fired a wrister five-hole on Lyon from the left circle.
Buffalo climbed within 2-1 with 3:59 left in the second, converting on its third of five power plays. Dahlin took a backhand feed from Zach Benson and teed up a one-timer from the top of the left dot.
Kastelic returned the Bruins’ cushion to two with a last-minute goal before the second intermission, tapping in a rebound left loose behind Lyon.
–Field Level Media
