Bruins beat Sabres in shootout, now 10 straight wins

Buffalo Sabres' Paul Gaustad (28) and Boston Bruins' Milan Lucic (17) fight during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Derek Gee)

What a game tonight's Bruins-Sabres game was, with action throughout the game. We all knew Milan Lucic would drop the gloves with someone on Buffalo, we just weren't sure who exactly.

Only 1:23 into the first period, on Lucic's first shift of the game, the crowd booed loudly as Lucic lined up for the faceoff. Paul Gaustad came out onto the ice and lined up next to Lucic and they exchanged some words. Once the puck dropped, Lucic and Gaustad dropped the gloves and the helmets and went at it. Gaustad seemed hesitant and not sure how to go about fighting Lucic. Lucic threw more and landed more of the punches and the decision went to Lucic. Watch the fight below. Even though Lucic won the fight it gave the Sabres a big momentum boost as they would outplay the Bruins in the first period.

Milan Lucic vs Paul Gaustad, November 23, 2011

A little later there was a big scrum with all of the players included behind Tim Thomas and the Bruins net. Brad Marchand took a run at Nathan Gerbe, then Gaustad hit Marchand which brought Adam McQuaid and everybody else into the pile. Zdeno Chara and Robyn Regehr separated and had an ok fight exchanging a few punches with the decision going to Chara.

The Sabres scored two power-play goals in the first period. Ehrhoff and Bruins killer Vanek scored for the Sabres.

In the second period, the Sabres weren't as "hungry" as they were in the first period. Tyler Seguin scored his 12th goal of the season, a power-play goal, to make it 2-1. Seguin scored on a Stamkos-like one-timer on the off-wing. Sabres T.J. Brennan later scored to make it 3-1. Later, Brad Marchand scored to make it 3-2. Before the goal, Marchand was laid out by Vanek, but Marchand would score a few seconds later and then yell at the Sabres bench after the goal. Also in the second period, Drew Stafford bumped into Tim Thomas and Andrew Ference went after him right away, dropping his gloves and they went at it but not much landed by either guy. Hey Sabres, that's how you're suppose to react to those kinds of things when they happen in a game.

In the third period, again the Sabres didn't look anything like how they played in the first period. Zdeno Chara scored his 3rd goal of the season, a power-play goal from a shot from the point that looked to deflect off a Sabres player's leg or skate.

Boston Bruins' Benoit Pouliot (67) celebrates his game-winning shootout goal against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Derek Gee)

The game went into overtime but nobody scored so the game went to a shootout. Vanek didn't score, Seguin didn't score, Gerbe didn't score, Peverley didn't score, Pominville didn't score, Krejci didn't score, Roy didn't score, Bergeron didn't score, Stafford didn't score, and then of all people Benoit Pouliot scored to win the game for the Bruins as he roofed the puck into the net past Jhonas Enroth.

Tim Thomas remained perfect in the shootout this season.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 39-34, faceoff wins 40-31 and blocked shots 14-10. The Sabres led the game in hits 39-24.

The Bruins went 2 for 5 on the power-play while the Sabres went 2 for 4 on the power-play.

Tim Thomas is now 10-4 with a 1.85 GAA and a .936 save percentage this season.

Patrice Bergeron had 2 assists in the game and went 10-8 in faceoffs.

Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist.

Brad Marchand led the Bruins in hits with 6.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now on a 10-game winning streak and are 13-7 this season and in 1st place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Friday at 1pm ET hosting the Detroit Red Wings in Boston. The game will be on NBC.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.