The Sabres had four of their five power-play opportunities in the second period. They are 0-for-11 in the past two games.
"Obviously, it's frustrating, for sure," Buffalo forward Casey Mittelstadt said. "If we get a power-play goal there with all the penalties in the second, it's a different game, so, yeah, I think it's a better mix of we've got to do a better job of helping each other if we run into trouble. … Yeah, it's definitely something that's frustrating and we've got to be better at."
Pastrnak extended the lead to 3-1 when he cut around Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin into the slot at 4:55 of the third period.
"[Pastrnak] just didn't have it (last game) for whatever reason," Cassidy said. "It was going off his stick. Today he just felt much more comfortable hitting his shot, through the neutral zone, making some plays. Sauce passes that were on the tape. One-on-one moves where the puck's sticking to him like it used to. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for him because he's fought it a little bit lately."
Ritchie scored from the left circle at 6:01 of the third to push it to 4-1. Krejci scored on the rebound of his shot in front of the net at 18:02 for the 5-1 final.
"These points are super crucial and we understand that but, again, we're taking every game as a playoff game," Swayman said. "I think at this point we're making sure that we're doing whatever we can to get two points."
NOTES:Marchand has scored 12 of his 25 goals in 13 games in April; he scored 13 goals in 30 games prior. It is his eighth season with at least 25 goals, tying Phil Esposito and Cam Neely for third-most in Bruins history, trailing Johnny Bucyk (11) and Rick Middleton (9). … The Sabres are 1-for-18 on the power play against the Bruins this season.