BOSTON — David Krejci and Riley Nash scored their first goals of the season, Tuukka Rask pitched his 32nd career shutout and the power play woke up to help the Boston Bruins to a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
Playing two nights after allowing two shorthanded goals to the New York Rangers, and coming in with the same number of power-play goals for and shorthanded goals against — three — Brad Marchand, Krejci and David Pastrnak struck for power-play goals.
Krejci followed Marchand’s fifth goal of the season when he struck with the Bruins having a two-man advantage. Nash scored his first goal as a Bruin later in the period, getting a sharp-angle shot past Robin Lehner at even strength. Pastrnak, who also had an assist, scored his eighth goal of the season 9:45 into the third.
The Bruins, who came in 3-for-38 on the power play, went 3-for-8 with the man advantage.
Rask, who was shaky in the 5-2 loss to the Rangers, was sharp en route to making 32 saves — including 14 in the third period. The Bruins improved to 9-1-2 in their last 12 games against the Sabres — including 5-1-2 in the last eight home contests. It was Rask’s second shutout of the season as he raised his record to 7-1-0.
In addition to the first goals of the year for the two players, Matt Beleskey had an assist on the first goal, his first point of the season.
The win was only the second in five home games for the Bruins (7-5-0) this season. Boston missed the playoffs for a second straight campaign in April primarily because of a 17-18-6 home record.
The loss was only the second in regulation for the Sabres (5-5-2) on the road, where they fell to 4-2-2.
Lehner made 38 saves and fell to 3-7-3 lifetime against the Bruins.
NOTES: Sabres coach Dan Bylsma, asked at the morning skate to name his goaltender for the game, said: “The starting quarterback today is … Robin Lehner is starting in net tonight.” … This game was a matchup of teams off to slow home starts. Boston is 5-2-0 on the road while Buffalo is 4-1-2. … Tyler Ennis and Dmitry Kulikov missed the Sabres’ skate at the Bruins’ new practice facility Monday, but both were in the lineup. Buffalo is mainstays Jack Eichel, Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian with injuries. … The Bruins play their third game in four nights at Montreal on Tuesday with rookie G Zane McIntyre having a chance for his second NHL start, while the Sabres host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night — four nights after beating the Senators 2-1 in Ottawa. The Canadiens beat the Bruins 4-2 in Boston Oct. 22.
Panthers 3, Tampa Bay 1
SUNRISE, Florida — Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal with 4:28 left in the third period and Roberto Luongo snapped a personal four-game losing streak as the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Monday night at the BB&T Center.
With the score tied 1-1, Smith stole the puck in the Tampa Bay end from Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. Smith made a slick stickhandling move before beating goaltender Ben Bishop with a high wrist shot to the stick side, just inside the post.
Jonathan Marchessault scored the first goal for Florida (6-6-1), which won the Atlantic Division last season but started the day in last place. Derek MacKenzie added an empty-net goal with 36 seconds to seal the win.
The Lightning (7-5-1), who beat Florida 4-3 in a shootout earlier this season, could not get their high-powered offense untracked.
Luongo, who made 34 saves, had a lot to do with that as he outplayed Bishop (28 saves).
Marchessault’s goal came with just 3:10 expired in the first period as the Panthers’ power play clicked immediately. Tampa Bay defenseman Braydon Coburn was sent to the penalty box for a high-sticking call against Florida center Jared McCann.
Given the man advantage, Florida needed just 42 seconds to convert as Marchessault wristed a shot from the right circle after receiving a pass from defenseman Keith Yandle. Center Aleksander Barkov got the secondary assist.
Tampa Bay tied the score 1-1 with just 1:15 expired in the third period. Left winger Ondrej Palat beat Luongo unassisted for his second goal of the season.
Although he didn’t record a point, Florida veteran Jaromir Jagr played, and that was good news for the Panthers. Jagr had left Florida’s previous game due to a groin injury.
Panthers President of Hockey Operations Dale Tallon gave a “state of the team” address to the media after the first period, expressing confidence in his club despite a shaky start.
“I’m satisfied with the effort and the play,” Tallon said. “Everyone’s contributing — we just have to get healthy. With a few breaks, we could be over .500.”