Levi makes 29 saves in return, Sabres defeat Bruins to end 4-game skid

BOSTON -- Devon Levi made 29 saves in his return to the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-1 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday.

Levi was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and played his first NHL game since Nov. 25, when he came on in relief in a 7-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

“I just cleaned up my game a little bit,” Levi said. “I felt like the chaos in the AHL really forced me to kind of get over top of pucks and start really tracking, and I think that just working on those two fundamentals are big for my game.”

Tage Thompson scored his first goal since Nov. 4 for Buffalo (11-14-2), which ended a four-game losing streak.

“It obviously showed again,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “When you compete, and elevate and compete, you get to that autopilot thing. And that was what happened.”

Brad Marchand scored his fifth goal in three games, and Linus Ullmark made 32 saves for Boston (17-5-3), which had won three in a row.

“We seem to kind of be going back and forth to playing the way we need to to be successful, and trying to be too cute,” said Marchand, the Bruins captain. “And I think in the games it’s going to be easy at times, and you know, this game will humble you pretty quick. We saw that tonight.”

Buffalo outshot Boston 19-5 in the first period.

“We just didn’t have any energy or life to us,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I've got to take responsibility for the lack of us having that preparation, it clearly wasn’t correct.”

JJ Peterka gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 1:18 of the second period, shooting into the top corner from behind the left circle off Dylan Cozens’s face-off win.

Thompson made it 2-0 at 16:57 of the second, one-timing Connor Clifton's centering pass from the high slot. Thompson scored his first goal in his second game since returning from an upper-body injury.

“I think just focusing just a shift at a time,” Thompson said. “Just step over the board and try to win your shift. Try to win the battle, beat the guy across from you. Don’t worry about the end result, and I think we did that tonight.”

Marchand cut it to 2-1 just 38 seconds later at 17:35, sending the puck in front from the right circle and bouncing it in off Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson. The five consecutive team goals scored by Marchand is the second-most in a row in Bruins history, tied with David Pastrnak (2019-20) and Dunc Fisher (1951-52) and one behind the six consecutive scored by the record-holder Glen Murray (2003-04).

Olofsson extended it to 3-1 at 11:16 of the third period, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 rush with Eric Robinson to cap off a 10:30 sequence of uninterrupted play.

“[The Bruins] had a really good chance. They kind of created a little bit of chaos in front of our net, and they had four guys up there really high,” Olofsson said. “I was kind of fresh coming in on the ice there, and just got a break and was first on the puck.”

The Bruins put up a sustained effort in the final 2:56 with Ullmark pulled for the extra attacker, putting nine shots on goal, but they could not work their way back in.

“They were fighting for me, you could tell,” Levi said. “And I was trying to fight for them too. At the end, I think everyone was gassed. We were out there for like three minutes without a whistle, and guys are still selling out, blocking shots, making some huge plays, so it’s an unbelievable team effort from everyone.”

NOTES: Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (lower body) did not play. Granato said Dahlin is day to day. … Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy left early in the third period following a hit from Peterka. Montgomery said he has an upper-body injury, but he won’t know the extent of any potential absence until Friday.