David Krejci recorded his 700th career point on the first of his three assists, and David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist as the visiting Boston Bruins handed the reeling Buffalo Sabres their 13th consecutive loss, 4-1 on Thursday.

Greg McKegg posted his first goal of the season, while Jake DeBrusk and Craig Smith also scored for Boston, which won back-to-back contests for the first time since a five-game winning streak from Feb. 1-12.

Jaroslav Halak stopped 23 of 24 shots as the Bruins beat Buffalo for a sixth straight time.

Kyle Okposo netted his first goal of the season and Carter Hutton made 33 saves as the Sabres' misery continued one day after firing coach Ralph Krueger.

Buffalo is 0-11-2 since winning at New Jersey on Feb. 23 -- its longest slide since dropping 14 straight in 2014-15.

The Sabres, who have scored just three goals in four games, are also mired in an 0-9-1 home rut.

Boston wasted little time in opening the scoring. Just 2:56 into the contest, McKegg deflected in a shot that Matt Grzelcyk threw toward the net.

The Bruins hoped to pad the lead on a power play early in the second period, but instead, Buffalo scored its first short-handed goal of the season. A seemingly casual shot from Okposo went over the glove of Halak to tie the game 1:54 into the middle frame.

Boston did come through on the power play to take a 2-1 lead with 10:45 left in the second when DeBrusk pushed in a rebound of Pastrnak's blast from the point. Krejci also assisted on the play for his milestone point.

Krejci helped increase Boston's advantage to 3-1 by setting up Smith for a turnaround shot that slid in off the left pad of Hutton with 1:24 to play in the second. Pastrnak netted a power-play goal early in the third off a perfect pass from Krejci.

This contest went on despite each club having its morning skate canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. Boston forward Sean Kuraly reportedly was placed in the protocol on Thursday.

--Field Level Media