Kobasew and Chara lead fierce Bruins rally to down Sabres

Hockey Betting Lines

11/19/2008 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chuck Kobasew and Zdeno Chara both scored twice, as the red-hot Boston Bruins scored the last five goals and defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 7-4, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Marc Savard registered a goal and three assists, while David Krejci had a goal and two helpers for the Bruins, who have won 10 of their last 12 games and lead the Northeast division with 28 points.

Phil Kessel scored a goal and assisted on another for Boston, which has won six straight games as the host. Manny Fernandez stopped 25-of-29 shots to pick up the win.

"We are happy but not satisfied," Chara said. "Tonight we didn't play the whole sixty minutes. We need to put sixty minutes together. I felt that as the game went on we were better."

Thomas Vanek finished with two goals and an assist for Buffalo, which was handed its third consecutive lopsided loss. The Sabres have been outscored 18-7 during their skid.

Jason Pominville recorded a goal and two assists in defeat.

Ryan Miller allowed seven goals on 20 shots and was lifted in the third period in favor of Patrick Lalime, who made three saves the rest of the way.

"We got off to a good start again, got a couple of goals," said Pominville. "You can't give up the goals like we did. We handed them their opportunities. They didn't get that many shots."

It was a shooting gallery as the clubs combined for seven goals in the first period. Pominville's fourth goal in as many games got things started. On the rush, he accepted a feed from Vanek and swept a backhander over the glove of Fernandez at the 1:41 mark.

A bad turnover resulted in the tying marker just 1:18 later. Blake Wheeler picked off Henrik Tallinder's clearing pass and dished to Krejci in the left circle. Krejci faked the one-timer to freeze the goaltender before sliding the puck to Kobasew in the slot, and he tucked it into the empty net.

Derek Roy restored the lead for Buffalo less than two minutes later on a redirection of a Toni Lydman shot from the left point, and Vanek gave the Sabres a two-goal edge just 29 seconds later.

The Bruins, though, got one back, as Krejci fired a shot that ricocheted off Buffalo defenseman Teppo Numminen and behind Miller at 5:38.

Vanek's power-play tally made it 4-2 with 7:23 remaining, but Boston, once again, had an answer. Matt Hunwick sent a outlet pass to Kessel, creating a 2-on-1 for the Bruins. The former first-round pick streaked down the right wing and his pass was slowed by the stick of Lydman, but Savard still was able to shovel the puck home on the backhand 29 seconds after Vanek netted his league-leading 15th goal of the season.

Boston evened the score in the middle stanza on the power play. Chara let go a drive from up high that made its way through traffic and beat Miller on the glove side at the 2:37 mark.

Kobasew's second goal of the game gave the Bruins their first lead with 7:29 remaining, and another blast by Chara from the point put the Bruins up 6-4 with 2:48 remaining.

Kessel capped the scoring 1:16 into the third frame.

Game Notes

The four-point performance gave Savard 600 points for his career...Kobasew appeared in his 300th career game...Boston finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while Buffalo converted once in three opportunities...Hunwick and Patrice Bergeron each collected two assists for Boston...The Bruins lead the season series 2-1, with the home team winning each game...Before the game, Boston placed defenseman Andrew Ference (fractured right tibia) on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Matt Lashoff from Providence of the American Hockey League.