At The Final Horn: Sabres 2 - Bruins 6

The Buffalo Sabres were outscored 3-1 in the third period Saturday afternoon in their 6-2 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Craig Smith scored twice for Boston in the third to complete a hat trick. Sean Kuraly, Patrice Bergeron and Nick Ritchie also scored for the Bruins.
Riley Sheahan and Arttu Ruotsalainen tallied for Buffalo.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves on 29 shots through two periods.
In the final 15 seconds of the second period, while tracking the play on the penalty kill, Luukkonen sustained a lower-body injury and had to be assisted off the ice when the horn sounded.
Dustin Tokarski replaced him in net and stopped 11 of the 14 shots he faced.

Jeremy Swayman made 17 saves to earn the win for the Bruins.
Buffalo's power play finished the game 0-for-2 while the penalty kill was 3-for-4. Sheahan's goal came while shorthanded.

What happened

Boston took an early lead just 1:21 into the game. After some quick puck movement, David Krejci sent the puck to the front of the net and Smith redirected the pass in to open the scoring.
Stepping out of the penalty box with Buffalo still on the penalty kill with 7:25 remaining in the first, Sheahan collected a clearing effort and skated in on a breakaway. He buried the shot for Buffalo's fifth shorthanded goal of 2020-21.
Boston regained the lead with 3:22 left in the opening period when Kuraly knocked in a rebound in tight.
Then at the 5:36 mark of the second, after stopping an initial shot, Luukkonen couldn't find the rebound and Bergeron, parked right in front, put the puck in to make it 3-1.
Tokarski came in for the third period and Boston scored on their second shot of the period. Gr's slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at the 3:18 mark was deflected by Ritchie and extended Boston's lead to three.
Smith, uncovered in front, scored again 5:31 into the third when he took a quick shot off a feed from Mike Reilly.
Ruotsalainen cut Boston's lead to three at the 7:02 mark when he was able to jam in a loose puck in front under Swayman's pad for his fifth goal this year.
And with 5:55 left, Smith completed the hat trick with a deflection in front while on the power play to make it 6-2.

Roll the highlight film

Here's Sheahan's shorthanded marker, the fourth such goal of his career:

Worth mentioning

Dan Dunleavy, Martin Biron and Rochester Americans assistant coach Mike Weber went "Bald For Bucks" during Saturday's broadcast on MSG.
Donate $50 or more from now until May 2 to receive a limited-edition Buffalo Sabres Bald for Bucks T-shirt. Click here for full details.

Coming up

Buffalo will return home for the final two home games of the season. They'll play the New York Islanders on Monday and Tuesday.
Faceoff from KeyBank Center on Monday is set for 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage on MSG begins at 6:30.