Late Sabres Surge Hands Bruins Loss in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Buffalo Sabres’ late surge in the third period handed the Boston Bruins a 4-3 loss in Game 1 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday night in Buffalo.
The Bruins had a majority of the momentum in the opening frame. Boston got out to an early 1-0 lead at the 10:52 mark of the first after a goal by Morgan Geekie. The score was a rebound goal off an attempt by David Pastrnak that was blocked and landed right in front of Geekie. Pastrnak and Nikita Zadorov were both credited with an assist on the score.
Boston also had a pair of power plays in the period. The first was due to a hooking call on Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin at 12:03 and the other was on a Cross-checking penalty on Jason Zucker at 18:50 which bled into the second period. The Sabres, which rank fourth in the league in penalty kill percentage, killed both penalties.
In the second period, the Bruins and Sabres skated to a scoreless frame to keep Boston’s lead 1-0 heading into the second intermission. Buffalo outshot Boston 13-4 in the period, but could not put the equalizer into the back of the net.
The Sabres also had two power play opportunities in the second, but could not capitalize on either. The first was on a holding call by Pavel Zacha at 0:27 and the other was a hold on Andrew Peeke at 12:42.
The third period saw the most offense with six combined goals.
Boston extended its lead 2-0 at 1:08 of the third with a goal by Elias Lindholm. Lindholm rebounded a shot from Geekie that hit the goalposts to double the Bruins’ lead. Geekie and Pastrnak each picked up an assist on the score.
Buffalo got on the board late in the third with a goal from the team’s leading scorer Tage Thompson at 12:02. Thompson controlled the puck over Charlie McAvoy behind the goal and snuck it into the side of the net past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman to cut the Sabres’ deficit in half 2-1. Peyton Krebs tallied the assist on the goal.
A little over three minutes later, Thompson banked in the equalizer that went under the pad of Swayman to knot the game at 2 at 15:44. Alex Tuch had the assist on the goal.
The Sabres tacked on two more goals in the final four minutes of regulation, the first by Mattias Samuelsson at 15:44 to give Buffalo its first lead of the night and the other an empty netter by Tuch at 18:48.
Pastrnak cut the Bruins deficit to one goal 4-3 at 19:52 on a backhand shot, but Buffalo won the face-off and knocked the puck away to run out the clock and cement the win.
The Bruins and Sabres will play Game 2 of the best-of-7 series on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NESN and ESPN.
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Kim Rankin is one of the lead writers for Boston Bruins on SI and Boston College On SI. A 2020 graduate of the University of Alabama. she joined Alabama Crimson Tide On SI in February 2024 covering baseball, softball, football, men’s basketball, and more for BamaCentral, but has also contributed to Missouri Tigers On SI. She previously worked as the brand manager at Tide 100.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has covered a wide variety of events including SEC Championships, NCAA Regionals, and bowl games.