The Bruins answered any questions about a carryover effect from their late collapse in Game 1 with a strong response Tuesday night, defeating the Sabres 4-2 at KeyBank Center.
It was a tight, physical opening period filled with heavy hits and a few near altercations, but neither team could break through onto the scoreboard.
Boston finally struck at 4:50 of the second period when Victor Arvidsson won a race to a loose puck, skated in alone and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with a backhand to make it 1-0.
Morgan Geekie then doubled the lead with his second goal in as many games, flipping a shot from centre ice that bounced in after Luukkonen misplayed the puck.
Pavel Zacha made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 18:10 of the second, giving the Bruins complete control heading into the third.
Arvidsson scored again just 16 seconds into the final period, finishing a two-on-one by firing a shot past Luukkonen, glove side, to send the Sabres’ goalie to the bench and make it 4-0.
Tempers boiled over after that, with Buffalo’s Logan Stanley and Boston’s Mark Kastelic exchanging punches.
The fight gave the home faithful something to cheer about and may have given the Sabres a brief spark.
Bowen Byram spoiled Jeremy Swayman’s shutout bid with a wrister at 13:54, and Peyton Krebs added another at 15:08 to cut the deficit to 4-2.
That was as close as Buffalo would get, however, as Boston closed it out to even the series.
The two teams travel to Boston for Game 3 on Thursday night.
