Sabres Stick With it in Return to Playoff Action, Take Series Lead against Bruins
Score: Buffalo Sabres 4-3 Boston Bruins
Shots: BUF 38-20 BOS
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Thompson 1st (Krebs) Thompson 2nd (Tuch) Samuelsson 1st (Quinn) Tuch EN (Thompson Power)
Boston Bruins Goals: Geekie 1st (Pastrnak, Zadorov) Lindholm 1st (Geekie, Pastrak) Pastrnak 1st PPG (Geekie)
Minus 1: Momentum “Swayed”
The Sabres came out pretty strong, backed by a insanely loud and active crowd. They were screaming, chanting and banging the glass. “Let’s go, Buffalo!” longer and stronger like you have not heard in years. It was an amazing atmosphere to start this series. Both teams were physical from the opening faceoff, with Mattias Samuelsson laying out a few nice pops for the Blue and Gold.
Jeremy Swayman made a nice stick save on Tage Thompson after Peyton Krebs found him with space to shoot. Buffalo kept the pressure on as Jason Zucker had a great chance in tight. Not long after, Samuelsson, Beck Malenstyn and Jordan Greenway all leveled the Bruins in three separate big hits. The building was electic as the Sabres were flying and throwing their weight around. But Boston would strike first as Morgan Geekie scored to give the Bruins the lead. David Pastrnak’s shot was blocked and the puck laid nearly dead right in the slot. Geekie wound up and fired as he blasted it by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Buffalo got no puck luck on the play as the blocked shot was almost better than a pass, served up perfectly for Boston’s 39 goal scorer.
Rasmus Dahlin would then take a hooking call on Geekie as Buffalo went to the penalty kill. UPL and the defense did their job as Boston did have one good chance. Nikita Zadorov later took a cross checking call and Buffalo’s much maliged power play went to work. The did manage to nearly score, with a goal waved off immediately by the referee after a scramble in front. It was a good looking man advantage for the Sabres, which was encouraging at the time. Jason Zucker then went to the box and Buffalo nearly went down by two as Geekie shot just wide on an open net.
The Sabres played a whale of a first period but found themselves down by one at the break. Shots were 14 to 9 in favor of Buffalo but Swayman was the difference. He made several good stops. Shockingly, the Sabres brought their big boy pants back to the playoffs, with an astounding 23 hits in the first. They rarely hit that mark for a full game in the regular season.
Even 1: Two Goalies, No Goals
Buffalo killed the penalty that overlapped the period and the Sabres went right to the power play as Pavel Zacha was called for holding Alex Tuch. Buffalo could do nothing with it as this man advantage looked nothing like the first. (which had 7 shots) Luukkonen then played Pastrnak’s breakaway perfectly as the Boston forward ran out of room to shoot. The Sabres kept battling, with solid puck possession and decent chances but Swayman was always there.
The defense was very active for the home team. They were driving most rushes up ice and pinching in when needed, keeping the forecheck alive. Rasmus Dahlin and Bo Byram were standouts. Boston picked up the physical play in the 2nd as the Sabres were more content to solve Swayman. Luukkonen kept Buffalo in the game as he stoned Pastrnak again, who got in behind the defense after Zach Benson was high sticked with no call.
Tage Thompson was then held and the Sabres got their third power play. The remnants of Buffalo’s late season struggles was apparent yet again as the team couldn’t even set things up. They spent most of the two minutes chasing the puck back in their own zone and fumbling up ice with it. The three power plays got progressively worst through the first two periods.
After two, Boston maintained the 1-0 lead with the Sabres outshooting the Bruins by a whopping 27-13 at that point. As many fans feared, (including THIS guy) Jeremy Swayman was stealing the game for Beantown. He was seeing almost everything and getting his body in front of every shot. Buffalo was getting frustrated, easily outplaying Boston for long stretches with nothing to show for it. Not enough traffic in front made life too easy for the Bruins’ goaltender.
Plus 1: WTF Comeback Out of Nowhere!
Only 1:08 into the period, Boston would make it 2-0. Elias Lindholm scored with help from Geekie and Pastrnak (who else, they were the Bruins only real play drivers all night) UPL stopped the first shot but Lindholm cashed in on the rebound. It was a killer goal that deflated the team and the crowd. The two goal lead seemed insurmountable at that point with Swayman playing well and the power play dreadful as usual. They proved just that by going 0 for 4 with the man advantage soon after. Buffalo has now gone eight straight games without a tally on the power play.
The Sabres lost their mojo for much of the third after that, seemingly going through the motions and not getting the shots or scoring chances. Buffalo had just 3 shots with over 11 minutes gone in the 3rd. But then it happened! Tage Thompson gave the team and the fans LIFE again, finally beating Swayman on the wraparound. TNT fittingly scored as the fans exploded back to life. The score was now 2-1 with 8 minutes to go and the building was alive again. Peyton Krebs picked up the lone assist. Tage would amazingly get the equalizer three and a half minutes later as the Sabres kept pressing and the roof nearly came off the building. Strong forechecking led to the tying goal with Alex Tuch picking up the helper. Buffalo settled back in and really turned up the heat.
Less than a minute later, back on the attack, Jack Quinn circled around behind the net and found Mattias Samuelsson who powered home the go-ahead goal. I do believe the roof of Keybank Center did disconnect from the foundation on that tally. The fans were rocking and the team was responding. The goal rush was on as the frustration of being stymied all game washed away. Alex Tuch would find the empty net to seal it for Buffalo but Boston would score (Pastrnak) with a power play and Swayman on the bench with seven seconds left. The top line for the Bruins are a handful, no doubt… but Buffalo must do a better job from here on out. Those three carried Boston all night. 4-3 is your final score as the Sabres miraculously complete the comeback and hold on for the win.
Tage Thompson willed the team to victory, with his two big goals to tie it and an assist on Tuch’s empty net winner. TNT was huge in the game, even before the four unanswered goals. Tuch was amazing as well, with a goal, an assist and a shocking 10 hits in the game. Samuelsson was a physical menace all game too, with nine hits of his own, many of the bone rattling variety. The Sabres finished with a jaw dropping 53 hits on the night! Buffalo showed real character mounting the comeback and taking game one away from Boston.
Final Thoughts:
The Sabres first game back in the playoffs after 14 seasons of missing the big dance will be one Buffalo fans will never forget. All looked lost for the longest time but the hometeam pulled it out. This was a devastating loss for the Bruins but they are a veteran group who will be ready for game two.
Buffalo once again came out victorious despite a poor showing with the power play. Thankfully, the Sabres are a good team 5 on 5 and finally broke out in the final frame. The Blue and Gold also need to batten down against Boston’s top line. Geekie, Lindholm and Pastrnak were everything for Boston. Shut them down and you generally shut down Boston.
Game two will once again be at Keybank Center at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 21st. Buffalo will look to grab a 2-0 lead over the Bruins before the series shifts to Boston.
*** Thoughts and prayers to one of our own. DBTB staff writer Steven Staversky will be out of action for a bit. I won’t divulge too many details into his business but he did have an accident. He is OK at this point but please send positive thoughts his way. We will all miss you Steven, get well soon and hurry back! ***