Unser Chat » BOSTON (AP) — Chris Wagner

had an extra reason to smile when he scored a goal after his first one was disallowed.“My grandfather passed away yesterday morning Tampa Bay Lightning Hats Authentic , so this was a special game for me. Maybe he was watching out for me, having the puck follow me around,” the forward said after the Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Saturday night.“He was probably laughing after that first goal was disallowed,” he said.David Backes also scored and Tuukka Rask stopped 31 shots for the Bruins, who posted their fourth straight victory.“He was hurting. As a team we feel for him,” linemate Noel Acciari said of Wagner. “That was pretty cool to see that go in.”Boston won three of four games in the season series against Buffalo.Rask was looking for his first shutout of the season, but former Bruins’ defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen beat him with a wrist shot on the glove side with 2:38 left in regulation.The 31-year-old Rask seems as if he’s found his game again after a rough start to this season saw the No. 1 goalie sharing more time with backup Jaroslav Halak.“He does look comfortable, maybe part of that is he’s getting more reps in the net,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’s certainly earning them. . It appears to be his time of year, off he goes and we’re just going to ride it. If that what he brings, awesome.”Sabres star Jack Eichel missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. He’s expected to be re-evaluated early next week.“They play their system very well and it’s a hard building to play in,” Ristolainen said. “We’ve got to understand it’s not going to be easy for 60 minutes for us. We couldn’t create enough today.”Linus Ullmark made 39 saves for Buffalo, which has won just once in its last five games.The Sabres pulled Ullmark with just over a minute left for an extra skater Custom Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys , but were unable to get a shot on goal.Backes played in his first game after serving a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on New Jersey Devils forward Blake Coleman.Wagner had a goal wiped out when Sean Kuraly was called for goaltender interference 20 seconds into the game, but the Boston winger scored just under 10 minutes later, firing a wrist shot past Ullmark’s glove to make it 1-0.Backes made it 2-0 when he finished off a 2-on-1 break by sending a wrist shot under the cross bar two minutes into the second period.Boston forward Jake DeBrusk didn’t shy away from a question after the morning skate when asked if it was too early to be called an important game between the clubs, which entered tied for third in the Atlantic Division.“No, I think anytime you play a division team it’s a big game,” he said. “These games mean a lot towards the end of the year.”The Bruins then went out and dominated in the second period, holding the Sabres to just two shots on goal in the opening 15-plus minutes. Boston had a 13-10 edge in shots in an entertaining first period filled with high-energy rushes. Rask was solid in the first and third, controlling rebounds and cutting down angles on most of the shots.Rask made a nice glove stop on Jeff Skinner’s backhander from the edge of the crease late in the second. He also made a right-pad stop on Skinner’s close bid early in the third.NOTES: Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who missed his fifth straight with a lower-body injury, should be returning to practice this week. . Boston entered the game having allowed a league-high nine short-handed goals. Cassidy said he believes short-handed scoring is up overall in the NHL over the last few years because teams adopted the practice of playing four forwards on power plays, but he also admitted “ours are way too high.”UP NEXTSabres: Host New Jersey on Tuesday.Bruins: Host Minnesota on Tuesday. NEW YORK (AP) — The first winter storm of the season had Anthony Beauvillier excited about facing the New York Islanders‘ cross-town rival, and he broke out of a season-long scoring slump in a big way.Beauvillier had three goals and an assist, and the Islanders held off the Rangers 7-5 on Thursday night to keep up their recent mastery in the series.“I was pretty pumped before the game www.officialmapleleafsproshop.com ,” the Quebec native said. “It was snowing outside, felt like Christmas. And playing the Rangers is always fun. It feels good to get the win.”Beauvillier, who had one goal in 16 games this season, got his first career hat trick and first four-point game. The Islanders, second in the Metropolitan Division, won for the seventh time in 10 games and remained perfect in seven games against division teams this season.“It’s always tough mentally,” he said of his struggles. “If you don’t play good and the team’s losing it’s harder, but the team’s been winning and the locker room is great.”Leo Komarov had a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Cal Clutterbuck also scored as the Islanders beat the Rangers for the 12th time in 13 meetings since the start of 2015-16 season. Valtteri Filppula had three assists, Nick Leddy added two, and Thomas Greiss stopped 36 shots.Chris Kreider had two goals and Fredrik Claesson and Filip Chytil also scored for the Rangers, who were 6-0-1 in their last seven. Henrik Lundqvist gave up five goals on 17 shots through the first two periods. Alexandar Georgiev replaced him to start the third and had five saves.“They had three tap-ins when they were standing next to a guy Toronto Maple Leafs T-Shirts Authentic ,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “We didn’t pick sticks up. … They scored way too easily.”Komarov scored midway through the third to give the Islanders a 6-3 lead after trailing 2-0 less than six minutes into the game.Kreider’s second power-play goal of the night with 6:47 left pulled the Rangers back within two, and Chytil scored with 2 1/2 minutes remaining to make it 6-5.The Rangers pulled Georgiev for an extra skater with a little more than two minutes remaining but couldn’t get the equalizer. Clutterbuck sealed the win with an empty-netter with 21 seconds left.“These division games are huge,” Lee said. “Anytime we can get two and keep them to zero is huge.”Beauvillier put the Islanders ahead 3-2 with his second of the night when he skated in on a breakaway and beat Lundqvist at 2:24 of the second period.However, the Rangers tied it with a short-handed goal 57 seconds later as Hayes beat Greiss from the left circle with his fourth. It was the first short-handed goal allowed by the Islanders this season.Beauvillier put the Islanders back ahead for good when he deflected Johnny Boychuk’s shot past Lundqvist on a power play at 5:13.The Islanders, 2 for 24 on the power play in their previous six games, got their second of the night with the man advantage. Lee deflected Leddy’s point shot down past Lundqvist for his sixth with just under six minutes left in the middle period to push the lead to 5-3.NOTES: Kreider played in his 400th regular season game. … Rangers F Vladislav Namestnikov played in his 300th game. … The Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad had an assist on Kreider’s goal, giving him 15 points (eight assists) in his last 15 games. … Islanders placed forwards Casey Cizikas and Andrew Ladd on IR retroactive to Tuesday. F Matt Martin, who missed the previous five games due to an upper-body injury, was placed on IR retroactive to Nov. 1. … Beauvillier now has six goals and six assists in seven career games against the Rangers. … Filppula has 17 assists and 21 points in 21 games against the Rangers. … Nelson has eight goals and 12 points in his last 12 games.UP NEXTRangers: Host Florida on Saturday night.Ha Islanders: Host Dallas on Sunday.