The Boston Bruins (40-24-8) lost their third-period lead but rallied for a 4-3 overtime win over the division-leading Buffalo Sabres (44-20-8) at KeyBank Center on Wednesday. 

David Pastrnak (29), Viktor Arvidsson (20), and Casey Mittelstadt (14) scored, but no goal was more important than Pavel Zacha’s (24) overtime winner just 38 seconds into the extra period. 

Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves and picked up his 11th win of the season and first since February 26. 

The Bruins started the game with a rough showing on the power play. Alex Tuch hit the post on a breakaway, and the Bruins had no shots. 

Nine minutes later, Andrew Peeke dumped the puck behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s net. Marat Khusnutdinov picked it up and played it to Fraser Minten, who found David Pastrnak cutting toward the front of the net and connected for a one-timer. 

Jason Zucker tied the game on the power play at the 15:18 mark of the first. 

The Bruins ended the first period with an 11-7 shots advantage over the Sabres, picking up from their early power play showing with 11 5-on-5 shots. 

However, when the play returned to 5-on-5, Nikita Zadorov made a great play to keep the puck in the zone and set up David Pastrnak in the process. Luukkonen poked the puck off Pastrnak’s stick, and it landed on Viktor Arvidsson’s. He potted the rebound for his 20th goal of the season.

The Bruins outshot the Sabres 13-12 in the second period and carried a 2-1 lead and a 24-19 shots advantage into the final period. 

Mason Lohrei coughed up the puck in the neutral zone as a Bruins’ power play was expiring. Zach Benson won the battle and broke in on a breakaway. He deked and beat Korpisalo low.

Jason Zucker scored his second power-play goal of the night just 33 seconds later to give the Sabres a 3-2 lead.

In his old home, Casey Mittelstadt tied the game with six minutes remaining in the third. Jonathan Aspirot drove a shot off the end boards that bounced past Luukkonen and landed on Mittelstadt’s stick. He tapped it into the open net. 

For the fifth time in the last six Bruins’ road games, 60 minutes was not enough.

Pavel Zacha only needed 38 more seconds. 

David Pastrnak entered the offensive zone and played it to Zacha, in stride, to his left. Zacha fired a shot that beat Luukkonen glove-side. 

Pastrnak’s assist was his third point of the game and 90th of the season. He also extended his point streak to 11 games (7-11–18). 

The Bruins have now picked up points in their last six road games (3-0-3), bouncing back from a “disappointing” home loss on Tuesday. 

According to MoneyPuck, an overtime win increases the Bruins’ playoff chances from 64.7% to 74.8%. 

The Bruins head back to Boston for their next set of back-to-backs, where they will first host the Minnesota Wild (40-20-12) on Saturday before traveling to Ohio for a game against the Blue Jackets (38-22-11). 

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