The Bruins stared down elimination and answered with a clutch, hard-fought win in Buffalo.
Boston outlasted the Sabres 2-1 in overtime Thursday night to keep its season alive and force a Game 6 in the opening-round series.
In front of their raucous home crowd, Buffalo took the lead at 3:35 of the first period when Rasmus Dahlin scored on the power play. Jason Zucker spotted the blue-liner drifting down to the left circle, and Dahlin blasted it past Jeremy Swayman for the early 1-0 lead.
The Sabres carried that edge midway into the second period before Elias Lindholm buried the equalizer at 9:24. Lindholm jumped on a rebound of his own shot and snapped it past Alex Lyon from the slot to make it 1-1.
From there, the game tightened into a tense, end-to-end duel. Lyon and Swayman traded big saves as regulation came and went with the score locked.
Boston finally broke through at 9:14 of overtime. After a failed Buffalo zone entry, the Bruins countered. Hampus Lindholm sent a stretch pass to David Pastrnak, who raced in and beat Lyon for the winner.
The series now shifts back to Boston for Game 6 on Friday night, with the Sabres still holding a 3-2 lead.
