Skinner's late goal lifts Sabres past Bruins

BOSTON --Jeff Skinner scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, for the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Sunday.

Skinner gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead at 16:29 off a backhand pass from Jack Eichel, who scored an empty-net goal at 19:35 to make it 4-2.
Eichel had two goals and two assists, Linus Ullmark made 35 saves, and Sam Reinhart had three assists for Buffalo (20-9-5), which has a point in four straight games (3-0-1). Rasmus Dahlin had two assists.
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Bruins highlights\]
"It's always special coming back home, having a lot of family and friends here," said Eichel, who's from Lynnfield, Massachusetts. "It's awesome that we played such a good game as a group and we just stuck with it. Obviously, it wasn't the outcome we wanted [Saturday] night (4-3 shootout loss to Washington Capitals), probably wanted two points, could've had it. But it's great to come in here, in less than 24 hours, get two points and move on."

Steven Kampfer and Torey Krug scored, and Tuukka Rask made 23 saves for Boston (17-12-4), which has lost two in a row after winning three straight.
The Bruins tried several matchups against the Sabres top line of Skinner, Eichel and Reinhart, but couldn't find a way to slow them down.
"His line clearly had their way with whoever we put out there. That ended up being the difference in the game," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "At the end of the day, their best players outplayed ours. From the goalie to the top line ... another tough one that we probably deserved points in, but we're not getting any."
Ullmark kept the game scoreless when he stopped Bruins forward Ryan Donato on a penalty shot at 16:31 of the first period.
Skinner scored at 3:18 of the second period to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead. Eichel skated behind the net and sent a backhand pass to Skinner, who scored into an open net with Rask moving the wrong way.

Kampfer tied it 1-1 at 5:18, scoring short side off a cross-ice pass from Joakim Nordstrom.
Boston appeared to take the lead at 11:58 when Brad Marchand scored on a rebound at the top of the crease, but it was ruled that the referee was in the process of blowing the whistle before the puck went in the net.
Eichel scored on a wrist shot from the left dot on the rush at 5:43 of the third period to make it 2-1.
Krug tied it 2-2 with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 13:21 after a cross-ice pass by David Krejci.
"I think to be honest, we're probably maybe giving up a little bit more, but it's just big momentum shifts in a game where we need a big play and then all of a sudden it's a big play for the other team," Krug said. "So maybe that's just where experience kicks in, and we're a team that needs to continue to learn how to win and come up in those big moments. We've done a great job up to this point."

They said it

"[Jack Eichel] has been playing pretty well. He's feeling it, playing with confidence. He's finding a way every night to help us. Tonight was no different. He took over and won a game." -- Sabres forward Jason Pominville
"I think what happened was I was trying to do something similar to the last move [I made during a shootout] and he didn't bite on the first move, so I thought that if I kept it going that way I would have it. And maybe I did a little too much. But if I got it up I would've scored. At the end of the day, I was falling down so I couldn't get it up." -- Bruins forward Ryan Donato on his penalty shot

Need to know

Reinhart extended his point streak to 10 games (five goals, 11 assists), Eichel extended his point streak to six games (nine goals, four assists) and Skinner extended his point streak to six games (four goals, three assists). ... Kampfer's goal was his first since March 13, 2017 (47 games). ... Krejci extended his point streak to six games (three goals, six assists).

What's next

Sabres:Host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Bruins:At the Montreal Canadiens on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, NESN, NHL.TV)