Second period Quick hits:

– Nicolas Deslauriers nearly tied the game minutes into the second period as he skated behind the B’s defense, but he rang the post keeping his team’s deficit at 1-0. It was Buffalo’s best scoring opportunity of the night to that point.

– Six minutes into the middle frame, the Black and Gold had another opportunity to extend their lead on the man-advantage as Philip Varone was sent off for hooking. Unfortunately for Boston, they couldn’t capitalize as their power-play struggles continued. They are now scoreless in their last 16 opportunities. Bergeron and Krug played nearly the entire power-play each skating for 1:40 of the two minutes.

– After struggling Sunday night in Washington, the trio of Chris Kelly, Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson have bounced back quite nicely through two periods of play. The three have combined for one goal, nine shots and a plus-3 rating. They have been giving the Sabres trouble all night in their own zone possessing the puck consistently.

– Soderberg ended the second period with a penalty giving the Sabres their first power-play of the night. They will begin the third period with 1:58  on the man advantage. Buffalo comes in ranked 30th in the NHL on the power-play while the Black and Gold are tied for 12th on the penalty kill.

Second period stats:

– Buffalo has 21 blocked shots to Boston’s six

– Sabres have 10 giveaways while the B’s have only three

– Hits are tied at 20 a piece

Niklas Svedberg got the nod Tuesday night at TD Garden giving Tuukka Rask (“general soreness”) some much needed rest. The Swedish goaltender is 7-5-0 with a 2.43 goals against average including 2-0-0 against the Sabres this season. For Buffalo, Anders Lindback received the start. Lindback is 2-11-2 this season with a 3.31 goals against average. In his career against the Black and Gold, the 26 year-old is 0-4-0 in five career appearances with a 2.77 goals against average.

First period Quick hits:

– The Bruins received the game’s first power-play as Cody Hodgson went out for tripping. The B’s came into the game ranked 20th in the NHL. Loui Eriksson almost got the B’s out to an early lead, but he was denied by Lindback from point blank. Patrice Bergeron drove the net and had a nifty back door pass, but Eriksson could not finish.

– Eriksson got his revenge on Lindback after an Adam McQuaid’s slap shot went wide, the right-winger crashed the net and was right there for the tip in for his 18th goal of the season and his fourth goal in the last seven games. It was just the start the B’s wanted after playing catch-up hockey the entire night in Washington just two nights ago. Carl Soderberg picked up his 26th assist of the season while McQuaid notched his fourth. Soderberg and McQuaid both snapped six and 24 game droughts, respectively, without recording a point.

– Claude Julien and company held the Sabres to two shots in the game’s first 18 minutes. No matter how you put it, the B’s aren’t giving up much to the lowly Sabres and that’s how it should be. Buffalo is having trouble holding possession in the Black and Gold zone. Svedberg hasn’t been really tested while the puck had been around Lindback a lot in the opening period.

– Eriksson was very active in the first period. Not only did he score the lone goal of the period, but he is crashing net and moving his feet. The right-winger has more shots (4) than the entire Sabres team (3) through 20 minutes of play.

First period stats:

– The B’s out shot the Sabres 14-3

– Buffalo is outhitting Boston by a wide margin, 13-5

– Faceoff wins: Boston holds 6-4 edge