Grzelcyk, Bruins extend Sabres’ skid to 17 straight
The Buffalo Sabres lost their 17th consecutive game on Saturday, twice blowing a one-goal lead before Craig Smith scored with 3:50 left to snap a third-period tie and give the Bruins a 3-2 victory in Boston.
The Sabres have not won since Feb. 23, tying the 18th longest losing streak in NHL history. It was just the fifth time during that span that they have managed to come within one goal.
Matt Grzelcyk and Nick Ritchie each had a goal and an assist, and thirdstringer Daniel Vladar stopped 25 shots for Boston, which beat Buffalo for the seventh time in a row. It was the Bruins’ first victory in front of their home fans since March, 2020; the state of Massachusetts opened large arenas to fans at 12% capacity as of Tuesday.
Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo scored for Buffalo, each time giving the Sabres the lead. But Boston came back twice and took its first lead of the game when Smith came up with the puck after a scramble and knocked in the game-winner.
Linus Ullmark, who missed a month with an injury, was activated Saturday
and made 33 saves. The Sabres pulled the goalie in the final two minutes, but gave up the advantage when Rasmus Ristolainen was called for goalie interference with 25 seconds left.
Flyers 2, Rangers 1: At Philadelphia, Sam Morin scored his first NHL goal with 4:27 left in the game to hand the Flyers the win.
Nolan Patrick also scored for the Flyers, who badly needed to win a close one against the Rangers. The Rangers had combined to beat the Flyers 17-3 in their past two meetings.
The Flyers moved into fifth place ahead of the Rangers in the East Division
at 16-13-4 — the top four teams qualify for the playoffs — with 23 games left in a shortened season.
Morin, the 11th overall pick in the 2013 draft, had never scored a point in 14 career NHL games. The Flyers moved Morin from defense to winger and back to defense again over an injury-plagued career.
Mike Zibanejad turned New York’s last two wins against the Flyers into laughers and it was almost comical when he scored again with 9:06 left in the first. Zibanejad floated around the crease and fired in Ryan Strome’s pass from the circle for a power-play goal.