Bruins 4, Sabres 1: Reilly Smith scored twice as Boston recorded its seventh consecutive victory at TD Garden to salvage the finale of its home-and-home series with Buffalo.
Milan Lucic netted his team-leading 12th goal, David Krejci also tallied and Tuukka Rask turned aside 34 shots as the Bruins improved to 12-0-2 in their last 14 contests at home.
Zemgus Girgensons scored and Jhonas Enroth finished with 35 saves to extend his personal winless stretch to seven starts (0-5-2) for the Sabres, who posted a 4-2 home victory over Boston on Thursday.
Jarome Iginla skated up the right wing before feeding Krejci, who gained a step on Girgensons before wristing a shot under the crossbar to give Boston a 2-1 lead at 1:47 of the second period. Lucic doubled the advantage 5:18 into the third by scoring in the slot before Smith capped his two-goal performance with an empty-net tally.
Boston opened the scoring midway through the first period after Carl Soderberg skated in from behind the goal line before sliding the puck to Smith, who scored from the doorstep. Girgensons forged a tie with 1:06 remaining in the session after lifting a rebound of Matt Moulson’s bid from the doorstep behind Rask.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston C Patrice Bergeron engaged in his first career NHL fight after tangling with Buffalo D Tyler Meyers in the second period. … Sabres LW Linus Omark had one shot on goal while logging nearly 13 minutes of ice time in his first game since being acquired from Edmonton on Thursday for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft. … Buffalo was attempting to win three in a row for the first time since April 13-17.
