BUFFALO, N.Y. — Marco Sturm didn’t like the end result or the last 10 minutes of the Bruins’ 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Game 1 on Sunday.

But he did like his team’s play for most of the game and thought there was plenty to build off of for Game 2 on Tuesday. Still, he did target one group that he hoped to get more from.

The Bruins’ second line has been the team’s most stable unit all year. Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson have not only been a consistent source of offense, but also a reliable defensive matchup line.

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But they struggled on Sunday especially against Buffalo’s top forwards. So Sturm challenged them to give more.

“The Zacha line can be better. They really can. They were just OK,” Sturm said. “They have another gear like they have all year. That’s one line that needs to get better.”

All three were minus-3 in the game. Arvidsson was charged with two giveaways and they combined for just four shots on goal.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff thought his top line of Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch got the better of the physical matchup against the Bruins’ second line late in the game..

“The battles down low were the difference. You look at Tuch’s battles down low and the battles below the goal line,” he said. “You look at Tage coming out with a puck on the second goal from a battle below. Physically we just tried to make sure we were winning out battles coming out to the net front. And we were rewarded for it.”

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