BOSTON -- Morgan Geekie scored a tiebreaking, power-play goal with 1:45 left in regulation, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Saturday night, the club's 13th consecutive loss.
After losing at home to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, the Sabres probably should have been the more tired team, but they took the play to the Bruins for lengthy stretches, especially in the second period. In the end, however, Buffalo could not prevent another loss in a skid that is dimming what was a solid start to the season.
This is the third-longest single-season, winless streak for the Sabres in franchise history, according to ESPN Research, trailing the 18-game streak in 2020-21 and 14-game streak in 2014-15. The Sabres will try to end this skid Monday, when they take on the New York Islanders.
"I thought we deserved better," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said after the loss. "We didn't quite make the next play, offensively. But when it's going bad, it goes bad."
Charlie Coyle scored a first-period goal and Brad Marchand added an empty-netter for the Bruins, who improved to 10-4-1 under interim coach Joe Sacco.
JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, which is on its worst stretch since a club-record 18-game losing streak (0-15-3) in 2021. The Sabres haven't won since a victory at San Jose on Nov. 23.
Just as a power play was about to expire, Geekie one-timed a shot from the slot for the winner.
Coyle came out of penalty box after his minor for hooking ended. He collected a clearing pass from Nikita Zadorov, going in on a breakaway. James Reimer made a left-skate stop, but, while on his backside, Coyle poked the puck in. Reimer stopped 16 shots.
Peterka beat Joonas Korpisalo over the right shoulder with a wrister to tie the game at 1-1 late in the second. Korpisalo made 19 saves.
"If you look at how we managed the puck, the detail in the game, the power play scored," Ruff said, summarizing the effort. "Like I said, we deserved better."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.