The Buffalo Sabres were on home ice Tuesday night, falling to the rival Bruins 5-2 in a disappointing contest.

The Sabres offense once again couldn’t do much for the majority of the game, before finally finding some life in when they scored twice back-to-back, both of which coming from veteran Victor Olofsson.

The defense also played poorly in this one, allowing 32 shots and five goals in this one.

Further, goaltender Devon Levi was relieved after allowing five goals as Buffalo turned to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the remainder of the game.

Buffalo’s poor play allowed Boston to jump out to a 5-0 lead, and from that point on winning was an afterthought, as Buffalo would fall 5-2 at home.

Recap

1st period

The Bruins offense got off to a quick start, getting chances early which led to the first goal of the game from forward Danton Heinen just over three minutes in to give Boston the early lead.

The Bruins weren’t done however, as superstar David Pastrnak scored just a minute later to increase the teams lead to 2-0.

From that point on, each team was receiving chances but neither side could capitalize as the game remained 2-0 with five minutes to go.

Just when the score seemed destined to remain this way for the rest of the period, the Bruins would strike again, this time Brandon Carlo, who recorded his first goal of the season to extend Boston’s lead to 3-0.

This would end up being all through one period, as Buffalo looked to regroup after a bad opening frame.

2nd period

Neither side got much going at the beginning of the period, as the two clubs exchanged chances early on before the Bruins Oskar Steen buried his first of the season to further extend Boston’s advantage to 4-0.

The two teams continued to put up offense, but Buffalo still wasn’t able to capitalize before Boston’s defensemen Hampus Lindholm scored on the power play making it 5-0 Bruins with just less than eight minutes to play in the second.

Boston’s offense would start to slow down after their fifth goal of the game, and Buffalo’s offense was finally able to take advantage, as Victor Olofsson scored his first of the season to bring the deficit back down to four goals 5-1.

The score would remain 5-1 through two periods, heading into a make-or-break period for Buffalo.

3rd period

The Buffalo Sabres weren’t able to get much of anything going early and the scored would remain 5-1 deep into the period. That was before Victor Olofsson struck again, scoring his second of the night to bring it to 5-2 with just under five minutes to go.

Boston would take care of business from there, holding on to beat their Atlantic division rivals 5-2 on the road.

Takeaways

The Buffalo Sabres looked flat for the first 35 minutes of the contest, and the game was never close.

The offense wasn’t able to get anything going outside of veteran forward Victor Olofsson, and the defense allowed five goals within the first two periods.

Goaltender Devon Levi didn’t look sharp either, allowing all five goals on just 18 shots, leading to Buffalo switching to backup Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after the fifth goal.

In the end, Buffalo would end up falling, as the team now declines to 7-8-1 on the season. This is currently 7th in their division, and tied for 13th in the Eastern conference.

The team will now get a much-needed break, playing Friday against the Winnipeg Jets on the road in their first of a three-game road trip.