Bruins end road trip with relentless beating of Sabres

There’s no such thing as ‘running time’ in the National Hockey League.

But if Sunday’s showdown between the Bruins and Sabres told us anything, it’s that Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has found his talking point at the next round of GM meetings, as he was forced to bear witness to the Black and Gold’s demolition of his squad to the tune of a 7-0 final at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center.

• In Buffalo on the second leg of a back-to-back that kicked off with Saturday’s big win in Minnesota, the Bruins jumped out to a 1-0 lead on just their first shift of the day, and with a goal from captain Patrice Bergeron scored just 15 seconds into puck drop.

  The Bergeron goal was just the start of a relentless push from the Bruins, who doubled their edge with a Garnet Hathaway snipe at the 9:01 mark of the period, while Jake DeBrusk pushed the Boston lead to three just 2:39 after Hathaway’s tally.

• Weymouth flick ➡️ JD stick pic.twitter.com/qFtB78sq1u

  — x - Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 19, 2023

• But the Bruins were far from done.

  Hampus Lindholm hammered one home to make it 4-0 through 40 minutes of action, and the Bruins poured it on with three third-period goals. The first came from David Pastrnak, the second came courtesy of Charlie Coyle, and the third was scored off the stick of Charlie McAvoy. All within a mere 7:22 stretch of hockey.

  It was as clinical as it could’ve been for the Bruins, and it was a notable milestone, as it was the Black and Gold’s second time hanging a seven-spot on the Sabres in the month of March. It’s the first time the Bruins have done that to an opponent since they did it to the (original) Winnipeg Jets back in Jan. 1986.

• The Bruins have scored seven goals against the Sabres for the second time this month. According to my research, this is the first time they've scored at least 7 goals against same opponent in a month's time since they did it against Winnipeg in Jan. 1986.

  — Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) March 19, 2023

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  Mar 19, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates his goal with teammates during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)

• Pastrnak’s tally, meanwhile, tied his single-season career-high of 48, which was originally set back in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic paused and eventually canceled the remainder of the regular season.

  With 13 games remaining on the schedule, Pastrnak should have plenty of time to not only set a new career-high in goals, but also become the Bruins’ first 50-goal scorer since Cam Neely accomplished the feat in 1993-94.

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  Mar 19, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) during a stoppage in play against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)

• In goal, Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman stopped all 26 shots he faced for his second straight shutout. He’s the first Bruins netminder to post back-to-back shutouts in consecutive starts in the same season since Tuukka Rask did it for the Bruins in Apr. 2013.

  Swayman is also in the midst of his second shutout streak of at least 140 minutes this season.

  On the lineup front, the Bruins gave David Krejci the day off due to some soreness, while deadline additon Dmitry Orlov got the day off as part of Jim Montgomery’s defensive rotation.

  Orlov’s rest paved the way for defenseman Jakub Zboril’s first appearance since Feb. 23. Zboril finished the game with an assist, along with three hits and two blocked shots, in 18:34 of time on ice. It was Zboril’s first time playing at least 18 minutes in a game since Nov. 21, 2021.

  The Bruins will return home for a Tuesday night meeting with the Senators.