Sabres Never Wake Up From CA Trip. Lose To Boston

Marc Savard had a goal and an assist and Alex Auld turned aside 44 shots as the Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1, at HSBC Arena. The Bruins were minus top goaltender Tim Thomas, who is sidelined with a groin pull and backup Manny Fernandez, who is out with a herniated disc. That left rookie Tuukka Rask or the recently acquired Auld to fill in between the pipes. Auld made his debut for Boston on Saturday, turning aside 25 shots in a 2-1 victory at Toronto. "Its nice to have that situation when you can depend on whoever you put in there, (and it was) a solid performance on (Aulds) part," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "I guess the outcome could have been a lot different had he not bailed us out there, especially in the second period." P.J. Axelsson, Peter Schaefer and Glen Metropolit also scored for the Bruins, who are 9-4-1 in their last 14 games. Milan Lucic had two assists in the victory. Jaroslav Spacek had the lone tally and Ryan Miller stopped just 17-of-21 shots for the Sabres, who have dropped three of their last four games. "Its frustrating," said Sabres forward Jason Pominville. "We skated well, we worked hard. We had a lot of opportunities where we could of buried the puck, but we didnt. Weve got to make sure we find ways to score goals especially playing a team like Boston, who once they do get that lead its tough to come back on them." The Bruins jumped on top 6:29 into the contest following a Buffalo turnover in the defensive end. Savard read the play, and about a stride inside the blue line collected what should have been an outlet pass and fired it on net, beating Miller low on the stick side. Axelsson doubled the advantage just 44 seconds later when he took a feed from Savard, and from between the circles, sent a wrister into the back of the cage. Spaceks power-play tally cut it to 2-1 with 3:59 remaining in the stanza, as he pounced on a rebound swept out of the crease, ramming the puck over Aulds left shoulder. Boston re-established its two-goal edge a little more than a minute later, though, as Schaefer used a left-handed shot to best Miller following another Sabres turnover. The Bruins were outshot 20-5 in the second period, though Auld put on a goaltending clinic, making several huge stops to preserve the lead. "I didnt even know where the rebounds were, they were just hitting me," said Auld. "Some nights its like that. Some nights you have to have that luck going for you. I felt good, just working hard, got to keep it going." Metropolit made it 4-1 at the midpoint of the third when corralled a loose puck and backhanded it into the top left corner of the net. Game Notes Bruins forward Marco Sturm was hit in the head with the puck in the first period and didnt return. He skated off the ice under his own power, but was helped to the locker room...These teams played each other three times in 10 days in early November, splitting a pair in overtime before Boston won the last game 2-1 in regulation on November 10...Boston is 14-0-2 when leading after two periods...Savard has two goals and 18 assists in his last 14 games.