After one of their worst losses of the season, the Bruins responded by taking down the top team in the division a day later. 

The Boston Bruins (40-24-8) went down, then rallied back in the third period and overtime to pick up a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres (44-20-8) on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center. Pavel Zacha won the game in overtime, and David Pastrnak had a three-point night and is now at 90 this season.

Casey Mittelstadt said Tuesday’s loss was “one of our worst games of the year.”

“So, a huge bounceback win and, you know, against a really good team. Obviously, they’re playing really well, and we had to play hard and fight for it, but we got it done.”

The Sabres are the league’s best team since Jarmo Kekalainen took over as general manager on December 15. They have posted a 30-6-4 record since the front office change, and they are miles ahead of the next best team (Columbus, 25-9-5). 

“Yeah, we know how important this game was, and I think we just kept coming the whole game,” Zacha said after the game. “Especially in the third period, we just never gave up and kind of came back in the game, and we know what we have in this locker room, the resilience. We kind of went through this, you know, must win games for so many games now.”

Zacha’s 24th goal of the season is his fourth game-winner this year. It is also his ninth since the Olympic break, which is the most on the roster.

He needed just 38 seconds of overtime.

David Pastrnak set it up on a 2-on-1, playing it to his left. Zacha caught Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen moving and fired to the open side. 

Pastrnak’s three points brought him to 90 on the season, the fifth time he has hit that number in his career. 

“I love setting up goals,” Pastrnak said to the TNT panel after the game. “If I see a guy in a better position, it’s hard for me to take that shot. It’s definitely [something] I’m still working on, trying to make the right decision, not every time is the pass or shot. Definitely love setting up guys, but I had a couple of slumps this season, and then you kind of remember how fun is still scoring goals. You don’t take it for granted.” 

His goal came in the first period, and the “kids line” all factored in on the goal. 

“They’re getting more comfortable with me, and so am I,” Pastrnak said about his linemates. “It’s really fun to see them when they’re on their game like this and a pleasure to play with them.” 

The second line factored into the second goal, but their night was not done there.

The Bruins carried a 2-1 lead into the third period, but watched it vanish in 33 seconds. 

Mason Lohrei fumbled the puck as a Bruins’ power play was expiring. Zach Benson, like Matthew Knies on Tuesday, swooped in, picked up the puck, and scored on a breakaway. 

Lohrei took a cross-checking penalty after the goal, and the Sabres took a lead on the ensuing power play. 

“First of all, he knows he messed up,” Marco Sturm said about Lohrei. “But it happened twice in a row. (Tuesday) was a little bit different. They put him in a bad spot, but again, he needs to get the job done at the end of the day. And we will help him. He’s got to learn the hard way. He’s been pretty damn good all year long.”

“I think we played our best hockey today after that,” Joonas Korpisalo said after the game. “Wouldn’t give them anything after, and obviously scored the tying goal, and the boys took care of it after those couple [of] minutes there.”

Korpisalo made 22 saves and picked up his 11th win of the season, matching his total from last year. It is his second win against Buffalo this season. 

The second line came through again late in the third period, and Casey Mittelstadt tied the game with exactly six minutes to play. 

“Now they believe they can be the difference, and that, I think, as a player and as a line that’s huge, right?” Sturm said. “So, they think, and it’s good, and they are the difference in some of the games. And when we need them, they’re there.”

Mittelstadt was drafted eighth overall by the Sabres in 2017 and spent the first seven years of his career in Buffalo. 

“A lot of friends and really good people here who took care of me when I was young. So, very grateful for them, although it does feel good to score against them for sure,” Mittelstadt added. 

Now, though, the Sabres are doing something they did not do while Mittelstadt was there from 2018-24: they have a 99.97% chance at making the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck. 

If the playoffs started on Thursday, the Bruins and Sabres would draw each other in round one. 

The Bruins sit in the first wildcard spot in the East. They are at 88 points and have a 74.4% chance at the postseason per MoneyPuck’s model.

They still play the league’s toughest remaining schedule, with only three remaining opponents outside of the playoff picture. Their gauntlet of games continues this weekend against the Minnesota Wild (40-20-12) on Saturday, then the Columbus Blue Jackets (38-22-11) on Sunday.

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