Leaders Rally Bruins to Stirring Win Over Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. - When the going gets tough for any team, everybody's eyes often turn to the group's leaders to guide them out of the abyss and push things back in the right direction.
Such was the situation the Bruins faced on Thursday night in Buffalo.
The game was headed a bit sideways early on for Boston. David Backes was sidelined after taking a high hit to the head. And the Bruins once again found themselves in a multi-goal, first-period hole.

But that's when the Bruins' most important players began to shine.
Boston emerged from the first intermission a different team and started to wrestle away control of the game. Goals from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci knotted things in the second, setting up Ryan Spooner's two-goal third period, which lifted Boston to a stirring 4-2 comeback victory over the Sabres at KeyBank Center.

"Our leaders did a great job," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "Krech has been playing well as of late. Bergeron, [Brad] Marchand looked more like the Bergeron, Marchand that we know with their chemistry.
"We talked about Spooner who was playing well as of late. Tuukka [Rask] was solid for us tonight [making 31 saves]. There's a lot of credit to go around."
A piece of that credit pie also went to Adam McQuaid. Following the ugly hit on Backes late in the first period - for which Sabres winger William Carrier was penalized for an illegal check to the head - the veteran defenseman sought out Carrier only seconds after he excited the box.
Both players dropped the gloves, before the linesmen stepped in quickly to separate the two. McQuaid was shielded by one of the officials and, as a result, took a number of blows from Carrier. The defenseman was also assessed a five-minute fighting major, 10-minute misconduct, and two-minute instigating penalty.
Buffalo scored on the ensuing power play to grab a 2-0 lead with just 1:50 remaining in the period. But the sequence seemed to galvanize the Bruins and set the stage for a comeback.
"He stepped up for his teammate and we wanted to show that we had his back as well and we got the job done," said Krejci.
That they did.

The response came quickly after the second period began. Some three minutes into the frame, Bergeron won an offensive zone faceoff back to Torey Krug, who found Marchand in the corner.
Marchand then delivered a slick feed to Bergeron for a one-timer from the top of the crease that cruised past Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner and got the Bruins on the board. It was Bergeron's sixth goal of the season and Krug's sixth assist in the last four games.
Krejci followed up with a power-play goal with 5:29 left in the frame to knot the game at 2. After a mad scramble in front, the pivot picked up a rebound out front and backhanded one by Lehner for his eighth goal of the season.
"[Tim Schaller] and Frankie [Vatrano] were battling there," said Krejci. "I just jumped on the loose puck through the crease. I just had to put it upstairs."

Krejci was involved again on the winner, grabbing the primary assist on Spooner's go-ahead tally with 3:54 remaining in regulation. Spooner took Krejci's feed and launched a one-timer from the top of the slot that found its way past Lehner.
"I think they had a couple guys in front there, just tried to get the puck on net," said Spooner, who also notched the empty-netter with 52 seconds to go.
It may have been another rough start for the Bruins. But their best stepped up when they needed them most to carry Boston to a much-needed victory.
"Not the start we wanted again," said Rask. "But we showed we could battle back. The really good thing was that we battled back in the second, and then in the third we just took it to them again.
"We weren't afraid to lose the game. We wanted to win it and we showed it."

A Fighting Chance

For the second straight game, McQuaid was denied the opportunity to fight, despite both players appearing to be willing participants. On Tuesday night in Columbus, the officials intervened before any punches were thrown.
That was not the case on Thursday and the blue liner paid the price. McQuaid was tied up by a linesman, while Carrier had both of his arms free, allowing him to land several punches.
"I spoke to them and they spoke to me and explained what they were thinking in that situation," said McQuaid. "It's a tough job for them, things happen quick.
"But at the same time, you don't want someone to get an advantage over someone else."
Julien believed it was an isolated incident and praised McQuaid for defending Backes, who did not return after taking the hit because of what was termed as an upper-body injury.
"I respect Adam for doing that," said Julien. "We took an extra two and they scored on it and that's on us. When another player steps for a teammate, we should do a better job of killing the penalty."