Bruins Collapse Late, Lose Game 1 To Sabres In Buffalo

· Yahoo Sports

BUFFALO, NY -- The Boston Bruins (0-1) coughed up a multi-goal third-period lead and lost to the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 (1-0) on Sunday night inside the KeyBank Center in Game 1 of the first round. 

Boston led 2-0 with eight minutes to go in the game. Then, two straight turnovers and lost puck battles behind the net changed the game. 

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Boston lost 4-3 in regulation falling behind 1-0 in the series.

Tage Thompson scored two straight goals to tie the game. One came after Charlie McAvoy and Jonathan Aspirot lost a net battle behind the net. The second came after Andrew Peeke was bodied and outmuscled off the puck by Alex Tuch behind the net, a brutal turnover.

52 seconds later, Matias Samuelsson fired home the game-winning goal with under four minutes to go. Tuch buried the empty netter.

The high-energy, extremely rowdy Buffalo crowd finally got to experience playoff hockey for the first time in 15 years.

The Bruins knew a storm would be coming, and did weather it early. 

Morgan Geekie opened the scoring in the first period, polishing off an excellent rush play from the Bruins. Boston then dealt with waves and waves of pressure, carrying a 1-0 lead into the third period.

Boston's top line struck again just 68 seconds into the third period, with what felt like a huge insurance marker, courtesy of Elias Lindholm. 

Then, in the final eight minutes of the third period, it all disappeared. Buffalo scored once, and the floodgates burst. 

Buffalo scored four times 6:46, a stunning reversal.

Jeremy Swayman, who played phenomenally early, ran out of gas late after brutal defensive zone turnovers. He made 34 saves in defeat.

Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves in the win.

First Period:

The crowd could not be any louder to kick off this game. The first playoff game in this city in 15 years, and all that pent-up energy came spilling out. Chants of "Boston Sucks" and jeers of "Sway-man" dominated early.

But, the Bruins ensured as low-event a hockey as possible for the first few minutes. They clogged the neutral zone, making it impossible for Buffalo to generate offense as they usually do.

Boston then kicked off their 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs campaign with an incredible line rush and eventual finish.

Nikita Zadorov started it up, rushing forward with speed. Then he found David Pastrnak, who then tried a shot.

Buffalo blocked the shot, but the puck caromed to the middle. Elias Lindholm threw himself into Ryan McLeod, creating enough separation for Geekie to rifle home the game's opening tally.

Then, a special teams battle began in earnest. Three separate penalties would be called in the back half of the period, two on Buffalo and one on Boston.

Neither man advantage capitalized, bringing the game to the second period with a one-goal Boston lead.

Buffalo peppered 13 shots on goal in the first period, but hardly any had a high-danger rating.

Second Period:

For as low-event and clogged up of a period as the first period, the second period did not stay the same.

Buffalo dominated the frame, dominating possession and suffocating Boston. Boston only had three shots on goal in the frame in the first 17 minutes, all of which came from the stick of David Pastrnak on two separate breakaways.

The rest of the period was spent dealing with a torrent of pressure from the Sabres.

Swayman was equal to the task. He made strong positional and the occasional acrobatic saves, while eating at least one slash per whistle in his end.

The way the period ended was symbolic of how the game turned. Buffalo began passing up shots, instead focusing on trying to thread the needle, but getting less chances overall.

Boston's play, meanwhile, slowly improved. By the final two minutes, Boston's fourth line hemmed in Buffalo in the final minute, nearly jamming in a late insurance marker.

Shots read 27–13 Buffalo after two frames.

Third Period:

The third period began exactly how the second period finished. Boston's first shift, featuring Pavel Zacha's line, dumped it in and focused on establishing possession.

With Buffalo on their heels, the top line for Boston came on and quickly turned the pressure up. Pastrnak fired a pass to Geekie in front, whose shot hit Luukkonen, then the post, and bounced back out in front.

Elias Lindholm was there to fire home the rebound.

The goal was a masterclass in positioning by Boston. Lindholm sticks in the soft spot, causing both Ryan McLeod and Owen Power to collapse on Geekie, which allows Lindholm a clean look at the rebound.

Soon after, Pastrnak took a slashing penalty that threatened to change the tone of the game. Instead, Boston killed it off with ease, drawing jeers from the local faithful toward the Buffalo power play, which sat 0/4 at the time.

Through the first 11 minutes of the third period, the Bruins suffocated the Sabres. They held Buffalo to just three shots on goal to start the period.

Then, for the second time in the period, everything changed.

Charlie McAvoy and Jonathan Aspirot lost a puck battle behind the net to Peyton Krebs. Thompson grabbed the loose puck directly behind Swayman, made a slight move, and wrapped it around and in to make it a one-goal game with 7:58 to go.

McAvoy guessed wrong on where Thompson was going with the puck, and it gave Buffalo life.

Three minutes and forty-two seconds later, Thompson and the Sabres tied it. The crowd, which had been radio silent, went completely insane.

52 seconds later, Samuelsson sniped it and took the lead. Buffalo didn't look back, with Tuch sealing it with an empty netter.

Pastrnak scored with a weak backhander through a sea of bodies with six seconds to go, a consolation marker for the Bruins.

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