Plus/Minus: Bruins Fortunate To Escape Buffalo With Win
BOSTON (CBS) - The Bruins had their hands full with the Sabres, but two points is two points no matter how you slice it.
Down 2-1 late in the third, Brad Marchand evened things up and eventually scored the game-winner in overtime.
With three defensemen sidelined with injury, the Bruins will surely take a win anyway they can get it at this point. For that reason, they were fortunate to escape Buffalo with a win and avoid a back-to-back loss.
Following the game, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones spoke with play-by-play man Dave Goucher and color analyst Bob Beers to break it all down.
"As this game went on in the third period, before the Bruins tied it, my thought was, 'Where are they going to be if they don't get anything out of this game?' If they come to Buffalo and lose to this Sabres team who, let's face it, is not a very good team, where are they gonna be? Fortunately they were able to break through and tie the game and win it in overtime," said Goucher. "I know the expectation level for this team is sky high, and I understand that, but this is where they're at. Gotta walk before you can run."
Bob Beers came away from the game satisfied with recent Providence call-ups David Warsofsky, Joe Morrow and Zach Trotman, defensemen that can provide the B's with great puck movement while Torey Krug is out.
But for Beers, it's tough to get a true assessment because of the opponent.
"Generally their passes are pretty good. They can move their feet. You've got to play to your strengths right now. Move your feet and move the puck, I know that's something they wanted to get back to," said Beers. "Bring in some fresh blood. I thought Matt Bartkowski would play in this game but he didn't. The Bruins were much better at moving the puck, but the Sabres are a much different team than the Minnesota Wild or a couple of the other aggressive forechecking teams they'll face. "The true test is gonna be how you play against a team that really comes hard on the forecheck."
Listen below to their full analysis!
After his chat with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers, Adam Jones gave his three highlights and lowlights from the game in a segment he calls "Plus/Minus."
Plus
Brad Marchand
"Marchand rang in the game-winner off the crossbar, his third goal of the season and his second of the night. It came at 1:20 in overtime, he also had the game tying score at 14:30 in the third period."
Adam McQuaid
"Another positive for the Bruins tonight was the other goal scorer, Adam McQuaid. McQuaid from the right circle off the feed from Carl Soderberg evened the score at the time at one apiece at 11:36 in the second period."
Dennis Seidenberg
"Very slow start to the season, but he finally seems to be knocking the rust off. He's playing at a high level now. He had the second most minutes on the team tonight. He had an assist, five shots on goal, three hits and a couple of blocked shots. It was a good night for Dennis Seidenberg."
Minus
Reilly Smith
"We'll start with the guy who opened the night on the fourth line, normally a linemate of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Reilly Smith found himself in the box early for a hooking penalty, and that wound up giving Buffalo its first goal of the game. It's probably a little harsh for Reilly Smith, considering he set up the game-winning goal. But Stafford's goal on the power play was Buffalo's first power play goal of the season."
David Warsofsky
"The next negative was someone who was called up for this game tonight. David Warsofsky really struggled with a bad pinch up, leading to a two-on-one the other way for the Ennis goal. At that point the Bruins trailed 2-1. The Bruins only allowed three shots in that second period, and two of them found the back of the net."
Start To The Game
"It's the Buffalo Sabres. You're coming off a collapse in the third period the last time out against Minnesota on Tuesday, and you come out flat against the Buffalo Sabres. It was a quiet first period for the Bruins -- not the start you're looking for against a lowly Buffalo team. That was disappointing."
Listen below!
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