Sabres fans waited 14 years for a playoff game, and Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch made sure they did not leave disappointed. Buffalo rallied for a dramatic 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday night at KeyBank Center.
Despite controlling much of the play and spending long stretches in Boston’s zone, the Sabres found themselves trailing 2-0 midway into the third period and needed some late game heroics to pull out the victory.
Morgan Geekie opened the scoring for the Bruins at 10:52 of the first. David Pastrnak skated in and sent a shot toward the net that Rasmus Dahlin blocked, but the puck bounced into the slot, where Geekie reached it first and beat Buffalo goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the only goal of the period.
Neither team scored in the second. Buffalo continued to press but Jeremy Swayman stood strong in the Boston net. Luukkonen also came up with big stops, including a Pastrnak breakaway attempt.
Boston extended its lead just 1:05 into the final period. Elias Lindholm collected a rebound from a Geekie shot that hit the post and beat a sprawling Luukkonen to make it 2-0.
It looked as though the Bruins might steal Game 1, but Thompson finally broke through. At 12:02 of the third, he slipped one past Swayman on a wraparound to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The goal sparked the Sabres, and Thompson was not done. With under five minutes remaining, Tuch won a battle along the boards, and the puck found Thompson again. He spun and snapped a wrist shot to the far post to tie the game 2-2.
The momentum had fully swung. KeyBank Center was rocking, Boston was reeling, and Buffalo kept pushing. Mattias Samuelsson fired a wrister from inside the circles at 16:36 to put the Sabres ahead 3-2.
Alex Tuch added an empty-net goal at 18:48 to stretch the lead to 4-2, and Pastrnak scored on the power play with eight seconds left to make it 4-3. The Bruins could not complete the comeback.
The teams meet again Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
