Zboril connected from the top of the left wing circle with 7:29 remaining in regulation, snapping in a wrister as Nick Foligno, parked at the top of the paint, put a screen on Sabres netminder Craig Anderson.
Team Captain Patrice Bergeron added the insurance goal with 1:49 remaining in the third, lifting the Bruins’ record to 13-2-0 this season.
BUFFALO — Over seven years after he was drafted in the first round, defenseman Jakub Zboril scored the first goal of his NHL career here Saturday night, snapping a 1-1 deadlock and pacing the Bruins to a 3-1 win over the Sabres before the first sellout crowd this season at KeyBank Center.
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Keith Kinkaid, making his first start in the Boston net, provided some stellar saves in the first two period when the Sabres (7-8-0) carried play. Kinkaid finished with 30 saves.
Zboril, 25, was one of the three successive first-round picks, along with Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn, the Bruins made in 2015. His first goal came in his 11th game this season, the 65th of his career. He also became the Bruins 19th goal scorer this season.
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Their offense sputtering of late, even when they’ve been winning, the Bruins again fought the puck in the first two periods here. They were even on the scoreboard, 1-1, at the 40:00 mark, but were fortunate that the Sabres squandered a number of power-play chances that could have given the Western New Yorkers a comfortable lead.
Finally, with only 1:09 remaining in the period, Bergeron knocked home the 1-1 equalizer on a power play. Long-time linemate Brad Marchand ripped off a one-timer from the right wing circle, a shot that was blocked, and Bergeron gathered in the loose puck with his left boot and then chipped a backhander by Anderson for his sixth goal this season.
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The goal was only the eighth by the Bruins over their last 11 periods — and half those goals, including the Bergeron equalizer, came on the power play.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery noted after the morning workout that he felt the Bruins offense at even-strength had been a letdown of late. It remained in the doldrums for the first two periods against the Sabres.
Montgomery had his club in full attack mode when he sent out five forwards for a power play at 4:45 of the first. The attack quickly backfired.
David Pastrnak, attempting to split the the Sabres PK box in half as he carried the puck over the offensive blue line, lost the puck to Tage Thompson, the big pivot who is one of the centerpieces of the Sabre’ rebuild.
Thompson quickly had himself in a mismatch, with Bruins center David Krejci trying to stay ahead of him as the two raced down the ice toward the Boston end. Krejci stayed ahead, but never could gain position on Thompson, and at 5:17 the puck was in the net — a Thompson shorthander.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.