Bruins pick a good time to start a losing streak

The regular season is quickly winding down and with only 15 games left, the Boston Bruins desperately need points to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Last night, they lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime at the TD Garden. Former Bruins forward Brad Boyes was able to tap-in a great pass from Nathan Gerbe (former BC star) at 3:44 in the extra session.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (41 saves) did not have his best night of the season, flopping around in his crease which is always a bad sign when he reverts to his old helter skelter ways. It was an innocent shot by Gerbe that started the sequence but Thomas couldn't squeeze it. Gerbe tracked down the rebound and with Thomas coming way out and whiffing, Boyes parked himself at the side of the net.

Buffalo (33-26-8) rallied from a 2-0 deficit and was able to hand Boston (38-20-9) its third straight loss, even though it did get the bogus point.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is tripping up the Bruins at the moment, it seems to be something different in each game (goal-scoring, everything, defense, goaltending).

Nathan Horton's 19th of the season gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 8:54 of the first period. Some wonderful passing from linemates Milan Lucic and David Krejci (they've all been outstanding lately) ended in Horton's quick release.

Mark Recchi (12th of the season) made it 2-0 at 11:26 of the second period with a classic Recchi goal. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller (27 saves) made a save but Recchi went to the dirty net-front area and flipped the rebound in. Michael Ryder and Zdeno Chara assisted on that one.

Buffalo responded right away as Tyler Ennis cut it to 2-1 at 11:53 and Thomas Vanek tied it at 2 at 18:52. Ennis' goal took some skill as he waited out Thomas and seemingly the whole Bruins team to put it over them and into the net. Vanek's goal was much more unforgivable since his weak flip on net tied up Thomas.

Gregory Campbell (10th of the season) got his first point in eight games with another mucking and grinding goal at 2:18 in the third period. Miller's rebound went right to Soupy who poked it in. Chara and Shawn Thornton assisted.

More bad luck ensued for Thomas as Buffalo tied it up after a shot went off Chara's skate and into the net. Tim Connolly was credited for the goal at 5:05.

Rich Peverley had a great chance to end it in overtime but his shot went off the post and shortly after that, Boyes ended it.

The Bruins are right back at it tonight as they take on the Islanders in Long Island. They are playing out the string as always but the Islanders have been playing pretty decently lately and they have a dearth of talented forwards.

Let the miserable bastards in Buffalo enjoy a little glory for once in their lives

Well hopefully the Buffalo Sabres don't make the playoffs this spring but if they do, fingers crossed they don't face our beloved Boston Bruins.

Why am I afraid of such a mediocre team? Maybe because they match up well with the Bs and have now beaten them three out of five times this season after last night's 4-2 win at the TD Garden. One more meeting between the Northeast Division rivals left.

After playing very good hockey for the past few weeks, Boston (26-14-7) was due for a poor effort and last night's flat performance fit the bill.

Ryan Miller reminded the U.S. why they fell in love with him last winter during the Olympics as he made 38 saves for the Sabres (21-20-5).

No flat, unexplainable loss would be complete without Tuukka Rask between the pipes and poor Tuukka had 29 saves but he continued to struggle to find wins. I have no idea why the same team can play so well in front of Tim Thomas but then completely flip a switch when Rask gets the occasional start. Weird.

Things looked promising when Dennis Seidenberg gave the Bs a 1-0 lead at 11:01 of the first period on a slap shot. Mark Stuart and Marc Savard had assists on Seidenberg's fourth goal of the season and Nathan Horton did something with his life by screening Miller.

Buffalo goon Cody McCormick tied it up 1:04 into the second period when his shot went off the post and back to him, all he had to do was fling it in. Tim Connolly and Tyler Ennis had the assists.

Gregory Campbell continued his hot scoring touch with his seventh of the season, giving Boston another lead, this time 2-1 at 4:51 of the second period. It was the result of tic-tac-toe passing from Shawn Thornton to Blake Wheeler to Campbell.

Pint-sized BC alum Nathan Gerbe tied it up on a power play later in the second period with help from Tyler Myers and Ennis. Gerbe found himself wide open out front and he let it loose before Rask had a chance to square it up.

Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, who seem like Bruins killers, finalized this victory with third-period goals. Vanek's was at 5:13 when he skated in on a 2-on-1 and shot it rather than pass. Pominville's went off his skate (unintentionally) as he got to the net for Vanek's centering pass (Jochen Hecht also had an assist).

Only three more games left until the All-Star break and Boston heads out on a mini two-game West Coast trip. They'll play an afternoon game in Colorado tomorrow against the Avalanche who are unknown nationally but they can put the puck in the net.

New Year's in Buffalo, talk about a party.

Weird stuff happens on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day so it goes without saying that's multiplied when a miserable place like Buffalo, NY is involved.

The Boston Bruins scored four goals in the first period last night at the HSBC Arena but somehow ended up losing 7-6 in a shootout to the Buffalo Sabres.

Four different Bs (20-11-6) defensemen scored goals while Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist. Brad Marchand also added a goal.

For Buffalo (16-18-4), Drew Stafford once again did his best Mario Lemieux impression that he only pulls out when he plays the Bruins. He had another hat trick against Boston (his second this season) while Jason Pominville had two goals and two assists.

2011 began like 2010 ended for Bs goaltender Tuukka Rask: terribly. He started last night but he didn't make it to the second period as Bruins head coach Claude Julien made the curious decision to yank him after the first period even though Boston led 4-3.

Andrew Ference gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead 1:29 into the game, from Adam McQuaid and Marc Savard. 37 seconds later, Pominville tied it up from Thomas Vanek and Mike Weber.

Dennis Seidenberg made it 2-1 with an unassisted goal, then Brad Marchand tipped home a shot by Johnny Boychuk who received a pass from Mark Recchi.

Thomas Vanek got Buffalo back into it with a goal from Tim Connolly and Pominville.

The first period closed with Zdeno Chara (from Patrice Bergeron and Recchi) scoring a short-handed goal but Stafford cut it to 4-3 with an unassisted goal.

With Rask (13 saves) out, Tim Thomas (16 saves) entered in the second period but he wasn't much better. Captain America, Ryan Miller (34 saves) didn't exactly have a Hall of Fame performance either but he was able to ride it out.

Stafford tied it up with the second period from Paul Gausted. A power-play goal by Pominville gave Buffalo a 5-4 lead from Andrej Sekera and Jochen Hecht.

Seguin took over in the third period with a goal (from Daniel Paille) and he found Steve Kampfer for the go-ahead tally at 6-5. Chara also assisted on Kampfer's 2nd career NHL goal.

It looked like the Bruins would get the two points but Stafford tied it up with his third goal with 28 seconds left in regulation.

After a scoreless overtime, the Sabres went 3 for 3 in the shootout (Stafford, Vanek and Tyler Ennis) while Michael Ryder and Seguin scored but the third shooter, Zdeno Chara, shot wide and it was over. I have no idea why Julien tabbed Chara to shoot since he doesn't have a move, he normally just skates down and takes a slap shot from a few feet away but whatever.

The Bs got one point but they totally choked, giving up two-goal leads twice (3-1, 4-2). Boston goes to Toronto tomorrow night to visit Phil Kessel and the Maple Leafs, who they completely own.

This is why the Bruins are never good

After beating the Buffalo Sabres the first three times they met this season, you had to know that streak would end at some point.

Sabres forward Drew Stafford scored a hat trick last night at the HSBC Center as Buffalo (13-14-4) beat Boston (16-9-4) 3-2.

The frustrating part of the game (and the reason for the headline) was that the Bruins choked away two leads (1-0 and 2-1) and completely turtled when it mattered, stop me if you've heard that before with this team.

They had a goal by Brad Marchand (correctly) called back in the third period on which Shawn Thornton received a penalty for goaltender interference. Worse than that, Milan Lucic was called for a unsportsmanlike penalty late in the third period when the Bruins were scrambling for the tying goal. I don't know which is more sad, that the ref called it on Lucic for saying he was "a joke" while he was sitting on the bench or the fact that the Bruins' robot head coach Claude Julien didn't go crazy on that Bantam League call.

David Krejci opened the scoring at 17:29 in the first period when he tipped in a shot from Dennis Seidenberg. In what turned out to be a pattern, the Sabres quickly responded. Stafford followed up Derek Roy's shot off the post and got a power-play goal at 18:41. Tyler Myers also assisted.

Michael Ryder gave the Bs a 2-1 advantage with a pretty individual effort at 6:21 in the third period on the power-play.

Just 32 seconds later, Stafford scored his second on a one-timer from the slot. Roy assisted on that one too.

Next, Stafford had another power-play goal at 10:55 after a feed from Roy and Jason Pominville.

Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask had 32 saves while his Buffalo counterpart Ryan Miller also had 32 saves.

Tim Thomas should be in net tonight as the Bruins travel to Montreal. The Canadiens have lost three in a row so Boston needs to get two points to wipe away the bitter taste from last night's fiasco.

Bruins win the duel of great American goaltenders

It's hard to imagine a more anti-climatic way to clinch an overtime victory than the one turned in by the Boston Bruins last night.

Dennis Seidenberg's shot from the point on a power-play clearly went in the net past the Buffalo Sabres' Ryan Miller but popped out right away and play continued. After the next whistle, the referees reviewed it and in probably the shortest replay ever they called it a goal.

It was actually credited to Mark Recchi as the shot hit his old man pants then deflected into the upper part of the goal for a strange 3-2 win at the TD Garden.

Bruins (15-8-3) goaltender Tim Thomas (28 saves; 14-2-2) played just a smidge better than Miller (33 saves), his teammate on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team.

Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist for Boston while linemate David Krejci notched two assists.

Milan Lucic got the party started with a goal at 13:21 in the first period, his team-leading 13th. He squeezed it by Miller from a tough angle with Krejci and Horton assisting.

Sabres rookie Luke Adam tied it up in the second period at 12:57, his first NHL goal from Jason Pominville and Mark Mancari.

Thomas Vanek gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead at 4:07 in the third period when he banked a shot off Thomas from behind the net. Tyler Myers and Jordan Leopold had the helpers on the tally that looked like it might make for a bitter game-winner.

Thankfully, Horton got a gift as Sabres defenseman Mike Weber who put it right on his stick in front of Miller. Horton knew what to do from there and tied it at 13:39 with his tenth goal of the season, the second game in a row with a goal after nine straight without any.

Recchi's OT strike made up for him hitting the post in the second period on a breakaway. Horton also hit the post in a frantic end to the third period. Recchi's sixth goal of the season was assisted by Seidenberg and Krejci.

The Bruins host the dreg of the Eastern Conference and the NHL as a whole tomorrow night, the New York Islanders. It's a perfect time to get two more points and hopefully get Tuukka Rask some confidence by giving him the spot start.

Boston will have to deal with another injury as defenseman Marc Stuart broke his hand last night. Marc Savard looked decent in his third game back although it's obvious that he's still trying to find his form. Meanwhile, Marco Sturm is still technically on the team but he might as well be staring in Dead Man Walking, because I'd be shocked if he gets into another game with the Bs.

Get set for another miserable winter in Buffalo

Tim Thomas gave up a season-high two goals but somehow the Bruins still managed to win, 5-2 last night in Buffalo's HSBC Arena.

Thomas (7-0-0) made 33 saves and became the first Bruins goalie in franchise history to start out with that spotless mark.

This one was over early (maybe before it started since Sabres goalie Ryan Miller was out with an injury) as the B's (7-2-0) scored three goals in the first period.

The Sabres (3-8-2) gave up two straight shorthanded in the first period, a pathetic start for a terrible team. Brad Marchand took advantage of missed connection to go in on a breakaway and pot his first NHL goal. Then Patrice Bergeron scored after his first shot was blocked but then he whipped a snipe of a wrist shot in (from Marchand and Gregory Campbell).

Even Blake Wheeler got in on the scoring act (a rare thing) as he tapped in a nice feed from Michael Ryder (stationed behind the Buffalo goal) later in the first period. Zdeno Chara also assisted on Wheeler's first of the season.

Ryder kept the good times rolling with his third of the season 2:11 into the second period.

Buffalo's Drew Stafford got his team on the board with a power play goal at 16:39 in the second period. He was right in front of Thomas and was able to jam it home.

The Sabres added another grimy goal in the third period, from Andrej Sekera. Finally, Milan Lucic iced it with an empty-netter with 2:07. Nathan Horton and David Krejci assisted on Looch's goal.

Boston goes to our nation's capital tomorrow night for its third matchup already with the Capitals. They've beaten them the first two times so Washington is due for a win at some point.

Bruins clinch first playoff series at home since '99

David Krejci had a career year last season for the Bruins and he was rewarded handsomely for it.

That player was nowhere near the TD Garden or on the road with the B's this season; he was near the top of the long list of underperforming Bruins all year. Finally in the Olympics he seemed to find his game with the Czech Republic.

Since then, he's been a changed player and he stepped up with his best game of the season last night (2 goals, 1 assist) as the Bruins held off the Sabres 4-3 to take Game 6 and their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

It's up in the air who they'll play next: if Montreal upsets Washington in Game 7, the Bruins get Philly, if the Caps win, Boston will play Pittsburgh.

Boston's co-mvp's of the series Mark Recchi (1 goal, 1 assist) and Tuukka Rask (27 saves) stepped up once again with primetime performances.

I was genuinely worried that if the Bruins lost last night, they wouldn't win in Buffalo for Game 7. However, Boston scored first (for the first time in the six games) and they made Buffalo chase them all night.

Krejci opened it up with a power-play goal at 13:39 of the first period. He redirected Recchi's perfect pass by Ryan Miller (28 saves). Matt Hunwick also assisted.

With a 4-on-3 power play early in the second period, Boston cashed in once again (6 for 22 in the series; Buffalo was 0 for 19) as Krejci found Recchi by the side of the net with a cross ice feed. Patrice Bergeron also assisted.

Just when it looked like Boston might win this one with some breathing room, Dennis Wideman remembered how much of a nightmare he was this season. His terrible giveaway in the B's zone led to Patrick Kaleta's goal at 6:34 to cut it to 2-1 Boston.

The third period was crazy as Boston looked to have it wrapped up again when Krejci one-timed a pass from behind the net by Milan Lucic (Miroslav Satan also assisted). Just 22 seconds later, Michael Ryder flubbed a pass in his own zone to former BC star Nathan Gerbe, who one-timed it home.

Wideman made up for his earlier gaffe when he threw a puck to the net that Lucic whiffed on but Satan was on the doorstep to shovel it in, another clutch goal from the mid-season pickup.

Thomas Vanek scored with 1:13 left but it was too late. Boston couldn't score when the Sabres pulled Ryan Miller but it didn't matter. The B's are moving on to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second season in a row.

After choking in seven games last season to the underdog Hurricanes, they'll either be huge underdogs against the Penguins or slight favorites against the Flyers. I'm just pumped that there's more playoff hockey to watch from this suddenly very likable team.

The NHL playoffs are my drug and the Bruins are my connect

I don't know why exactly but I'm obsessed with the Boston Bruins at the moment and their playoff journey.

Other than doing fantasy hockey, I can't say I pay much attention to other NHL teams during the regular season but now that the playoffs have started I can't look away. Every night there seems to be an incredible game on at all times.

The Bruins took control of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Sabres with a 2-1 Game 3 win last night at the TD Garden. With the win, Boston is up 2-1 with Game 4 tomorrow night at the Garden.

Three of Boston's most consistent players were the three stars of the game: Tuukka Rask (32 saves) outplayed Ryan Miller for the second straight game, Mark Recchi flattened Tim Kennedy and assisted on Patrice Bergeron's game-winner with 7:03 left in the third and Bergeron who one-timed Recchi's perfect feed.

For the third straight game, Buffalo jumped ahead with the first goal as former BU star Mike Grier scored 6:57 into the game from Raffi Torres and Henrik Tallinder.

Former Garden whipping boy Dennis Wideman tied it up (and all is forgiven) with a slap-shot at 15:17 of the first period. Vladimir Sobotka (who has been one of Boston's best players in the series) and Matt Hunwick assisted.

As expected, the goal-scoring has been at a premium with both teams lacking their top offensive players at the moment (Thomas Vanek and Marc Savard) but the games have been very physical and exciting.

Each blocked shot, poke check and pass means something, playoff hockey is one of a kind. I'd go so far as to call it the best, better than the NBA (where the favorites usually win) and MLB (where the same teams usually make the playoffs and the games are ten hours long). NFL playoff games are similarly superb so we'll call it even.

Can't wait for tomorrow night although there's plenty of NHL playoff action tonight to tide me over.

The Bruins are alive and well, thanks for asking

The Boston Bruins looked poised to make a quick playoff exit as they went down 2-0 to the Buffalo Sabres twelve minutes into Game 2 yesterday afternoon at the HSBC Arena.

The NHL's lowest-scoring team found their non-existant scoring touch and outscored Buffalo 5-1 from there to even up the series with a 5-3 win.

Zdeno Chara and Michael Ryder were the likely and extremely unlikely suspects to pull the Bruins out of the gutter.

Tyler Myers and Matt Ellis had given Buffalo the 2-0 lead in the first period before Ryder (from Vladimir Sobotka and Blake Wheeler) and Chara (from Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Boychuk) tied it up in the second period.

A bad giveaway by Milan Lucic in his defensive end, led to Jason Pominville's goal from Tyler Ennis. Buffalo went into the third period up 3-2 and they hadn't lost a game this season when they led going into the third.

The B's tied it at 3 when Ryder finished off a perfect odd-man rush with Andrew Ference and Wheeler. Chara scored the game-winner a few minutes later when his shot from the point found its way past Ryan Miller (26 saves). Miroslav Satan and David Krejci assisted on Chara's second tally.

Finally, Mark Recchi fittingly sealed it with an empty-netter with 20 seconds left. After a rough start, Tuukka Rask (26 saves) settled down enough for his first NHL playoff win. To hear the NBC announcers question if he should be pulled in the first period was laughable. Uh, have you boys seen Tim Thomas this season?

Boston comes home to what should be a rocking TD Garden tomorrow night (Marathon Monday/Patriot's Day) for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. They stole the momentum in the series and there's no reason they can't knock off a very beatable Buffalo squad.

Ryan Miller: a real American hero

After three of four road teams won on the first night of the NHL playoffs, the Boston Bruins were able to buck that trend by losing 2-1 to the Buffalo Sabres last night in Game 1 at the HSBC Arena.

Normally, I would make fun of the B's and how pathetic they are but they actually carried play and deserved a better fate. They outshot the Sabres 39-32 but Buffalo goaltender and Team USA icon Ryan Miller made 38 saves.

In his first NHL playoff game, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask played well (30 saves) but it wasn't good enough against the NHL's best goalie.

Buffalo came out flying to start the game and opened the scoring only 4:52 in as Thomas Vanek took a feed from Derek Roy for a one-timer that Rask had no chance at stopping.

After surviving the fast start by Buffalo, Boston settled down and completely dominated in the second period, outshooting the Sabres 24-8. They were finally rewarded at 9:30 on the power play as the ageless Mark Recchi roofed one over Miller from Zdeno Chara and Matt Hunwick.

The lead was short-lived though as Craig Rivet scored what proved to be the game-winner at 14:10 from Tim Kennedy. Rask was screened by a Buffalo player and again, he had no chance to stop it.

Both teams had chances in the third period but Boston couldn't find the tying goal; penalties late in the third ended any chance of a Bruins comeback.

Even for a 2-1 game, this was an exciting playoff hockey game. There was a huge scrum in the first period and a ton of hard but clean hits. Game 2 is tomorrow afternoon back in Buffalo. It is basically a must-win for Boston because they can't go down two games to Miller. He is that good.

Nothing's ever easy in the Hub of hockey

Like a villain in a bad horror movie, maybe the newest Nightmare on Elm Street, the Boston Bruins stubbornly refuse to die.

They're going to make the playoffs (fingers crossed) but they'll undoubtedly do it in the most ass-backward way possible. That's their MO; this is a team that hasn't won a Stanley Cup in 38 years and counting.

Thanks to last night's 3-1 win over the Sabres at the TD Garden, the B's (37-30-13) have 87 points and are in the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining. Montreal is tied with Boston but they have only one game left. Philadelphia has two games left but they're a point behind the B's and Habs.

If the playoffs started today, Boston would face Buffalo (44-26-10) which is a much more favorable matchup than the Capitals or Penguins.

Even with all-world goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Ryan Miller, the Devils and Sabres respectively are teams that the Bruins have a much better shot at in the first round. If they play Washington or Pittsburgh, goodnight. You shouldn't even bother watching.

Derek Roy gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead in the first period with assists from former BC star Nathan Gerbe and Drew Stafford.

Miroslav Satan, who has really picked up his game lately, tied it early in the second period with an assist from David Krejci.

It was a gift win since the Sabres chose to sit Miller in favor of Patrick Lalime. However, the Bruins will take any break they can get.

Dennis Wideman, surprise surprise, scored the winning goal early in the third period. A shot from the point assisted by Vladimir Sobotka and Blake Wheeler (who's still alive apparently).

Mark Recchi clinched it with a goal late in the third period, from Zdeno Chara (playing with a facemask to protect his broken nose) and Milan Lucic. Recchi expertly tipped Chara's shot from the point.

Tuukka Rask made 31 saves to improve to 21-12-5 with a ridiculous GAA of 1.97 and a save percentage of .931. Boston is already guaranteed a top 3 pick in the upcoming draft (thanks to the Phil Kessel trade with Toronto) and if they can luck into the top 2, they'll have a stud offensive player to pair with Rask, who truly is the franchise right now.

The B's host the Hurricanes tomorrow afternoon before a matinee in DC on Sunday against the Caps. Carolina can only be a spoiler and hopefully with the presidents' trophy wrapped up, Washington sits all their good players. Realistically, the B's need to win at least one of the games and get a tie to feel comfortable that they can avoid the eighth spot.

Ryan Miller is still my hero

If you've learned anything from the Boston Bruins this season (that's assuming that you're still paying attention or ever bothered to waste your time on this hopeless franchise in the first place) it's that they'll do whatever is unexpected of them in any given game.

If they've been playing great, they're liable to be awful in the next game and lose. On the other hand, once you've left them for dead (which I've done so many times this season I've lost count) is when they step up and produce absurd results like Saturday's 5-0 win over Calgary.

Given that they were coming off one of their best performances of the season, it should have been no surprise that the B's faltered last night, losing 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres at the TD Garden.

All the usual suspects: shoddy goaltending by Tim Thomas, bad bounces, Dennis Wideman being a waste of life and struggling to score showed up against a team they could very possibly meet in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in a few weeks.

Things looked good when a red-hot David Krejci (his 17th, from Zdeno Chara) gave Boston (34-29-12) a 1-0 lead 7:43 into the game with a nifty move around Miller (40 saves) that he finished by poking the puck with his backhand.

Barely three minutes into the game Marco Sturm had drawn a penalty shot but he was predictably stuffed by Miller, the Team USA hero.

Less than four minutes after the Krejci goal, Buffalo (42-23-10) gained a 2-1 lead thanks to two goals that were deflected in off Wideman. Haha, really. Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, the leading candidate for rookie of year, scored and then Paul Gausted (from Myers) added to Wideman and Thomas' season-long misery.

After a Dennis Seidenberg giveaway in the second period, Buffalo's Tim Kennedy made it 3-1 and Thomas' (11 saves) night was over as he got pulled for the sixth time this season. Tuukka Rask, who might as well play every remaining minute of the season, stepped in and stopped all 19 shots he faced.

Seidenberg got a little redemption late in the third as his long shot trickled in off Miller but the Bruins ran out of time before they could tie it up and sent it to overtime.

The good news is that Atlanta lost last night as well so the B's are still two points up on the Thrashers for the eighth spot in the East and the right to be embarrassed by Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals in four quick games.

The B's are back at it tonight in New Jersey, another likely first round opponent.

Two wins in a row?

Just when you've completely given up on the Boston Bruins, they reel you back in so you can sweat over whether they'll make the playoffs and get swept by the Capitals, Devils or Penguins.

Such is life but at least the B's (25-22-11) have woken up from their dirt nap. They won their second straight, 3-2 in a shootout last night in Buffalo against the Sabres, who have now lost five in a row after a great start to the season.

Fittingly Bruins forward Daniel Paille, a former Sabre, got Boston off to a 2-0 start in the first period with a pair of goals. His first was assisted by Marc Savard and Miroslav Satan while the second was a deflection off Zdeno Chara's shot and Derek Morris' pass started the sequence.

2-0 leads mean nothing to the Bruins as they are useless to protect them. Buffalo tied it up in the second period as Derek Roy scored a power-play goal and Tyler Myers scored with 1:25 left.

For better or worse, this is Tukkaa Rask's time and the young Fin had one of his best games of the season with 42 saves. The B's were outshot in every period but seemed to come alive with a power play in overtime. They didn't score (obviously) but they used that momentum to win the shootout (another foreign concept).

David Krejci finally did something this season as he scored the winning goal.

Boston swings through Florida for two games before the Olympic players head to Vancouver and everyone else goes home for the lengthy Olympic break. The Bruins play at the Lightning tomorrow night.

What will it take to beat the Bruins? Uh, some guy named Matt Ellis apparently

It was bound to happen sooner or later, the Boston Bruins (just like the Celtics proved a couple weeks back) can't win every single game. It's just not possible as much as local bandwagon fans would like to dream while they sleep in their crisp new Milan Lucic jerseys.

Still, it was surprising that as the Bruins (29-6-4) fell 4-2 to the Sabres (19-15-5) yesterday afternoon at the Garden that the No. 1 star would be some bum named Matt Ellis (2 goals, 1 assist).

At 5:08 into the first, Buffalo had a 2-0 advantage as Ellis (Henrik Tallinder, Jason Pominville) and Thomas Vanek (power-play goal from Derek Roy and Pominville) both put pucks past B's goalie Tim Thomas (21 saves).

Phil Kessel cut it to 2-1 with his 24th of the season, on a power-play from Marc Savard and Milan Lucic later in the first.

The Sabres put it out of reach when Ellis scored again, this time in the second from Ales Kotalik and Daniel Paille.

Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton scored on a wicked snap-shot (from Martin St. Pierre and Shane Hnidy) but Buffalo made it a two-goal lead again when Paul Gaustad (Andrej Sekera, Ellis) banked the puck off Hnidy's skate in front of Thomas.

The Bruins outshot the Sabres 11-2 in the third but they never seemed to have the normal jump in their skates that has become the norm this season. Plus, no shots were getting through to Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller (29 saves) or Boston simply had bad luck (like when Savard put a puck wide when half the net was empty).

It wasn't Boston's day clearly and as a result, the 14-game home win-streak is over and ditto for the 10-game overall win-streak.

The offensively inept Minnesota Wild come to the Garden on Tuesday night as the B's will look to start a new winning-streak.

This ain't Harry Sinden's Boston Bruins (even though he still has some pointless post)

In the last few years, the Boston Bruins have struggled to score goals, meaning that if they gave up more than one or two, you knew their chances of losing increased dramatically. That's part of the backstory that makes this season so enjoyable thus far.

The Bruins (12-3-4) smoked the Buffalo Sabres (9-6-3), 7-4 last night at the Garden as they scored five unanswered goals to recover from an early 4-2 deficit. This year's Bruins can win close, low-scoring games, high-scoring games, everything.

Marc Savard was all over the place with a goal and two assists. Zdeno Chara had two power play goals while David Krejci (1 goal, 2 assists) and Chuck Kobasew (2 goals) had the most productive nights.

It was a night of video game stats for the B's as rookie defenseman Matt Hunwick had two assists, Phil Kessel had a goal and assist and Patrice Bergeron added two assists.

What started out as a disastrous start (3 goals in the first 5:38) for backup goalie Manny Fernandez (25 saves), became a memorable game as the Bruins continually peppered the Buffalo zone and its outstanding goalie Ryan Miller (who was yanked after the 7th goal).

1:41 into the game, Jason Pominville scored off assists from Thomas Vanek and Craig Rivet.

At 2:59, Kobasew scored his second of the year (assists to Krejci and Blake Wheeler).

A minute and a half later, Derek Roy put Buffalo up 2-1 with assists from Toni Lydman and Drew Stafford.

29 seconds later, Vanek put the Sabres up 3-1 with helpers from Pominville and Jochen Hecht.

40 seconds after that, Krejci cut it to 3-2 with an assist from Shane Hnidy.

Vanek's power play goal later in the first period was ironically Buffalo's last goal (assists from Roy and Pominville).

The Bruins started their streak with Savard's seventh of the year, from Kessel and Hunwick.

In the second, Boston blitzed the Sabres with three more goals: Chara's two goals (both from Savard and Bergeron) were sandwiched around Kobasew's second of the night (from Hunwick and Krejci).

Kessel completed the madness with his ninth of the year in the third period, from Milan Lucic and Savard.

Boston hosts the lowly Florida Panthers tomorrow night (the first Friday night home game in 31 years).