By Mark Scott
Boston, MA – David Krejci had two goals and one assist to lead Boston to a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Monday night and put the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Tuukka Rask stopped 27 shots for Boston, which will play either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh in the second round.
Buffalo, which missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, has not advanced since reaching the conference semifinals in 2006 and '07. The Sabres did win the Northeast Division championship this season.
Former Sabres player Miroslav Satan scored what turned out to be the game winner for the Bruins.
Olympics MVP Ryan Miller made 28 saves for Buffalo. Patrick Kaleta and Nathan Gerbe scored for the Sabres, and Thomas Vanek made it 4-3 with 1:13 left after the goalie was pulled for an extra skater.
"Every game was a tight game the whole series," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "At home, on the road, whatever. It was an extremely tight series for both teams. We fought back and it was a series that there wasn't much breathing space."