Joe Yerdon – NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO — Ryan Spooner scored in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout to give the Boston Bruins a come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center on Thursday.
Spooner snapped a shot over the glove of Sabres goalie Chad Johnson in the first round of the shootout. Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped Buffalo’s Brian Gionta, Evander Kane, and Ryan O’Reilly in the tiebreaker.
The Bruins (27-18-6) ended a two-game losing streak. The Sabres (21-26-5) had won their previous two games. The teams play again Saturday at TD Garden.
Boston trailed 2-0 after Sabres forward Sam Reinhart scored 47 seconds into the second period. But Spooner started Boston’s comeback when he scored at 1:45, and the Bruins tied it on Brad Marchand’s 23rd goal of the season 2:44 into the third period.
Spooner’s 11th goal of the season came when he poked a rebound of a shot by Bruins defenseman Torey Krug past Johnson. Spooner has five points in the past six games.
Marchand took a pass from Patrice Bergeron and broke into the zone against Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian, then deked and put a backhand shot over Johnson’s glove hand. Marchand has eight goals in the past eight games.
The Sabres took a 1-0 lead when Kane took a passout from Gionta and chipped the puck over the right shoulder of Rask for his 12th goal of the season. Reinhart made it 2-0 when he tipped a shot by Sabres defenseman Mark Pysyk past Rask.
It was Rask’s first start against the Sabres in Buffalo since Feb. 28, 2012.
(Reprinted With Permission of the Buffalo Sabres)
