Top Notes
- The Sabres failed to get a point in a home game against the Bruins for the first time since Nov. 3, 2010. They were 4-0-1 in their last five home contests against the Bruins.
- Buffalo fell to 1-3-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets. They have swept one set, been swept twice, and split one set.
- The Sabres play Northeast division opponents in eight of their 10 games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15. They are now 3-3-1 against the Northeast so far this season.
- Jason Pominville was held without a point in consecutive home games for the first time since Feb. 25-26, 2011.
Top Quotes
Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron:
On his goal: “We need to create some momentum on the power play — find a way to score some goals — and that was a timely goal today, especially in the third period.”
On the Bruins’ power play struggles: “Sometimes you have to stay positive and find ways. [I] thought we were doing well moving the puck, whether it’s a bad bounce. Obviously we have to get better — had some bad bounces going our way and today we’ll take that lucky break. It’s karma at some point.”
On the Bruins’ start to the season: “I think we’ve got to keep playing the way we’re playing. Character has been key. We haven’t had our best games every time, but found ways to battle back and get the lead. [Wednesday’s win at] Montreal was a good example; we had a bad start but found a way to win the game in the third. At the same time, we have to realize we have to play for 60 minutes and can’t let down because we’re playing some really good teams right now. With the short season, every game’s really important.”
Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin:
On staying prepared as a backup in the NHL: “Felt very good, try to stay sharp and try to stop the pucks, just be ready every game and even if I’m not playing try to get ready like I’m gonna play, someday when I’m gonna play I’ll be ready, like today.”
On contributing to the win: “Stop all the pucks that I can and hope guys will score goals; pretty much that’s it.”
On the Bruins’ defense: “Pretty much got a little less [action] in second and third period I didn’t do much just had to stop a couple saves and keep the score less. The guys played awesome.”
Sabres forward Tyler Ennis:
On the constant opportunities against Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller: “Yeah, [Miller] played great. He played awesome last night and played awesome again tonight and that’s definitely the main thing we’ve got to clean up, is not giving up those chances and stay out of the box.”
On getting a more balanced scoring attack: “Yeah, you know, Thomas [Vanek] and [Jason Pominville] and Cody [Hodgson] have been carrying the load a lot, so we’ve talked about it quite a bit. It seems like every day we’re talking about secondary scoring needing to come through so, you know, it’s got to come.”
On why the Bruins are tough to play against: “They got a lot of depth. They got a lot of chemistry up front, too. They play well as a whole and they compete hard. I thought we played well against them in Boston and it could have gone either way tonight if we buried some chances, so we’ve got to take some positives out of it and go onto Ottawa.”
Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta:
On his fight with Bruins forward Gregory Campbell: “Yeah, I was just trying to create energy and get things going. It’s not a matter of who you fight or the result of the fight. It’s a matter of showing up and showing your teammates that you’re ready to battle. You win some, you lose some. You don’t get too high or too low, and you learn from it and move forward.”
On penalty killing: “We know we’re going to have the [penalty kills], it’s just the way it is. You kill some penalties, there’s going to be penalties in the game. We have to try to limit the amount of penalties that we take, [it] took a weird bounce off the end wall but to another sense you still don’t like to get scored on. You don’t like to lose. The way it works for me is, I’m not too happy, I’m not impressed. I got a bad taste in my mouth because I hate to lose, especially to teams in our division. I just don’t like it. I’m pretty sure a lot of guys in the locker room feel the same way so we’ll go back to the video stuff, learn from it, and move forward.”
Sabres forward Jason Pominville:
On special teams play: “Saw it last night. Found a way. And tonight was one where we got great goaltending, we couldn’t find a way to win, we couldn’t find a way to put one away and I think our power play has to be a little bit better. We had a tough time getting set up, so that’s an error where we have to improve on. I mean special teams are huge especially against teams that are on top of the league.”
On giving up too many chances on [Sabres goaltender Ryan] Miller: “You’re right with that. We’re giving up too much, we’re making it too easy on them. I feel like we have to earn every opportunity we get, we have to work for our opportunities. On the other hand, sometimes we give them the easy ones where they come around, whether it’s from a turnover we make or a miscue in our zone, they make plays. We’re running around a little bit and it ends up wasting a lot of time in our zone, and then you get the puck out, you’ve got to change and they’re coming right back at you with fresh guys. So it’s about playing in our zone first and that’s how it starts. It’s defense first.”
On Miller’s play: “Ryan played awesome. Even tonight gave us a chance to win. Made some big saves, kept us in the game early, kept us in the game late. Last night [he] won us a game. We gave up a lot of opportunities and he came up big. So it’s definitely nice to see him play that way, we just gotta be better in front of him.”
