Bruins blank Sabres, move within one point of third in Atlantic Division

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins moved within one point of third place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Thursday.

Boston trails the Tampa Bay Lightning with one game remaining for each. The Bruins visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, when the Lightning play at the New York Islanders. Tampa Bay lost 5-2 at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Patrice Bergeron had a hat trick and an assist, scoring his 400th career NHL goal, and Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak each had a goal and an assist for Boston (51-25-5), which has won four in a row and has clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; it will finish with the first wild card from the Eastern Conference if it does not pass Tampa Bay. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for his first shutout with the Bruins, and Brad Marchand had two assists.
"Today's game is history. Now, we can only look forward," Ullmark said after his 39th start since leaving the Sabres to sign with the Bruins as a free agent in the offseason. "That was great [to get the shutout]. There's a lot of emotions obviously, playing your old team. It puts a lot of special feelings towards it. … Had to wait a full season, but like I said, I'm focused on what's to come now. The regular season doesn't mean anything once you get to the playoffs."

Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves for Buffalo (31-39-11), which had won four in a row.
"I think it was honestly a pretty even game, like we had opportunities, lots of shots, and they just found a way to put it in the back of the net. We didn't," Sabres center Dylan Cozens said. "There's areas to improve in every way, and definitely things we could have done better in that game. It's a frustrating one to lose."
Buffalo outshot Boston 12-6 in the first period, which had no goals.
"I thought we had opportunities to score in the first, and didn't," Granato said. "I thought we played real well in the first, and then we didn't look like ourselves in the second and third at all. I don't know if it was an energy thing or what it was, but the game slipped away at that point."
Bergeron put the Bruins ahead 1-0 at 6:16 of the second when he put in a loose puck in front of the crease. The Sabres could not clear it after Tokarski stopped shots by Marchand and Jake DeBrusk, and the puck went right to Bergeron.

Bergeron made it 2-0 at 12:29 with a one-timer in the slot off a pass from DeBrusk, who won a puck battle with Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin behind the net.
"They got the two goals there, and I think that was a turning point in the game," Sabres forward Rasmus Asplund said. "I thought we came out really, really good in the first period. We looked like ourselves, and they got those two goals. I think we started to hesitate a little bit and be on our heels instead of our toes."
Pastrnak extended the lead to 3-0 on the power play with his 40th goal of the season at 2:11 of the third, scoring through the five-hole on a forehand-to-backhand move in the slot off a pass from Hall. The goal ended the Bruins' 0-for-39 streak on the power play.
Hall made it 4-0 at 4:16 on the power play that resulted from a failed offside challenge by the Sabres, putting in a loose puck in the crease.
"A lot of positives tonight," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It caught my eye that we scored [twice on the power play]. It's been a long time. … We didn't need the goals, but we don't need to be talking about it forever, so it's good to get them out of the way."

Bergeron completed the hat trick and made it 5-0 at 17:47 with No. 400, on a snap shot in the high slot off a pass from Charlie McAvoy.
"For sure [it's special to get 400 goals]," said Bergeron, the Bruins captain. "I knew [I was close], heading into the game. That being said, it is special, and the one thing that is special is I've scored all the goals with the Bruins. I think that's the biggest thing I take out of it. … I'm proud of that."
NOTES: Bergeron became the fourth player to score 400 goals with the Bruins, joining Johnny Bucyk (545), Phil Esposito (459) and Rick Middleton (402). … It's Pastrnak's second 40-goal season in the NHL (48 goals in 2019-20). Four Boston players have had more: Esposito (seven), Middleton (five), Cam Neely (four) and Ken Hodge (three).