Final Score: Boston 4, Buffalo 3 (SO)

Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Petr Tenkrat scored in the eighth round of the shootout to lead the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena.

In the eighth round, Jochen Hecht had an opportunity to put Buffalo ahead, but Tim Thomas made a pad save on Hecht's wrist shot.

Tenkrat then skated in and snapped a wrist shot that Ryan Miller slowed down with his glove, but it retained enough momentum to cross the goal line. It was initially not called a goal by the referee, but a review determined that it went into the net.

Shean Donovan and Marc Savard each had a goal and an assist and Thomas finished with 22 saves and stopped all eight skaters in the shootout for the Bruins, who have won three of their last four games.

"A win against anybody is big for us right now," Thomas said. "We're trying to fight to get back into a playoff spot. We need the two points, not just one. We couldn't settle for just one tonight. We played an excellent first period. We had a couple of calls go against us, faced some adversity and was able to hang with it, pressured them the whole game."

Daniel Briere had a goal and an assist and Miller finished with 27 saves for the Sabres, who had a four-game winning streak stopped.

"It was a good point," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "To come back from two down and we had couple of opportunities to win it, and we've been good in the shootout. It's a devastating feeling to lose in shootout, but we been on the other side enough times to know what it feels like to win it."

The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead when Zdeno Chara let loose with a shot from the high slot that Marco Sturm tipped between the pads of Miller just 3:59 into the game.

The Sabres, though, tied the game with a power-play goal when Teppo Numminen slid a pass from the right point to Drew Stafford, who took the puck from the low right side and stuffed a backhand under the pad of Thomas with 5:47 left in the first.

Boston grabbed a 2-1 lead when Donovan skated into the Buffalo end on a 2-on-1 rush and from the top of the right circle blasted a shot into the left corner of the net 10:12 into the second.

The Bruins made it a 3-1 game when, while skating shorthanded, Donovan flicked a pass from the right boards to the low slot where Savard shifted from the forehand to the backhand and lifted the disc over a prone Miller with 6:17 left in the second.

Buffalo, though, scored two power play goals just 47 seconds apart to tie the game heading into the final period.

Chris Drury made it a 3-2 game when, while on a 5-on-3 advantage, he took a pass from Jason Pominville and blasted a shot from the left circle between the pads of Thomas with 1:40 left in the middle frame.

Moments later, Briere snapped a shot from the left circle that Thomas appeared to make an amazing diving stick save on the shot with 52.7 left. Play continued after the save and after time ran out in the period officials determined that the puck had crossed the line and then hit the stick and the goal was counted. The referee had to go into the Boston locker room and get the team, who had thought that the period was over, to finish the stanza.

Neither team scored in the third period or overtime with a total of 14 shots, 10 by Boston, thrown on net between the two teams during that time.

Game Notes

Boston plays in Philadelphia on Monday...Buffalo hosts Philadelphia on Tuesday...Buffalo right wing Ales Kotalik left the game in the second period with a lower body injury and did not return...Briere has five goals in his last five games...Buffalo had won its last six home games coming into the contest...Buffalo went 3-for-8 on the power play while Boston did not score on any of its four chances.