Coyle Scores Twice as Bruins End Four-Game Skid in Buffalo

BUFFALO – Charlie Coyle had two goals, and the Boston Bruins ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Wednesday.

Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk each had two assists for the Bruins (20-7-6). Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves.

“Any time you can win, it always helps,” DeBrusk said. “I think that means there’s lots of things that we’re doing right, and as a group, we didn’t like how we [went into] the break. Had a couple days to reset and came out with a good effort tonight, had some good goaltending and just rolled with it.”

Mason Lohrei gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 4:19 of the first period, converting on a rebound off the right pad of Levi in front.

Coyle made it 2-0 at 13:42 with a power-play one-timer from the slot off a pass by DeBrusk from behind the net.

“We always want to get out to a lead if you can, and then it’s up to us to push that lead, build in our game, play the right way,” Coyle said. “We had to get that one back. To be a good team, there’s going to be little lapses, right? But it’s up to us. If they have a good shift, that next line comes out. … We’ve just got to keep building on our game.”

Coyle scored his second straight power-play goal when his pass attempt deflected off the skate of Johnson and in to push the Bruins’ lead to 3-0 at 4:18 of the second period.

Morgan Geekie collected a rebound off the end boards and banked it off a diving Levi from behind the goal line to make it 4-0 at 13:44.

Boston was 3-for-4 on the power play, while Buffalo was 0-for-6.

Johnson cut it to 4-1 at 5:11 of the third period with a slap shot from the right circle.

“The thing is, coming back after the break, three days off, it's not going to be a real clean game,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “We had moments where we struggled with getting back into it, too, but overall, it was a pretty good hockey game by us.”

NOTES: The Bruins recorded their League-leading 122nd win since Jan. 1, 2022. Their 258 points in that time are tied with the Montreal Canadiens (1977-1978) for most in NHL history over a two-year span. … Since last season, Boston is 26-2-3 when scoring first on the road, which trails only the Colorado Avalanche (27) and Dallas Stars (27) for most such wins in that span.