Buffalo Scores 4 Unanswered in 3rd, Tops Boston in Playoff Return
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| Sabres stage wild rally vs. Bruins for first playoff win in 15 years |
Sabres end 15-year playoff win drought with 4-3 Game 1 comeback vs. Bruins. Thompson, Samuelsson, Tuch scored in 4-minute span in 3rd.
Buffalo erased 2-0 deficit with 4 unanswered goals to beat Boston 4-3. Thompson had 2G...
The Buffalo Sabres notched their first playoff win in 15 years by scoring four unanswered goals in the third period to take Game 1 of their series against the Boston Bruins.
Buffalo’s Alex Tuch led all players with a near-perfect 9.6 player rating for the game.
Despite the Sabres recording 13 shots and 23 hits in the first period alone, the Bruins carried a lead into the first intermission.
Morgan Geekie ripped a shot past Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from in front of the net to make it 1-0.
GEEKIE GETS THE PARTY STARTED! 🐻 #StanleyCup
— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2026
🇺🇸: @espn
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports 2 pic.twitter.com/sBhmHYq7gK
Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist as the Sabres logged only the second multi-goal playoff comeback in franchise history in their 4-3 win.
David Pastrnak’s assist on the goal marked his 88th career playoff point, tying Wayne Cashman for ninth-most in Bruins history.
Thanks to a Jason Zucker two-minute minor for holding, the Bruins started the second period on the power play for the first 50 seconds.
It quickly flipped to a Sabres power play after Pavel Zacha took a two-minute minor for holding, but Buffalo couldn’t convert. The Sabres also came up empty on their second power play of the period 12 minutes later.
It was the first time since Thanksgiving that the Sabres were held scoreless through two periods, despite outshooting Boston 27-13.
Elias Lindholm extends the @NHLBruins lead to TWO! 🐻 #StanleyCup
— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2026
🇺🇸: @espn
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports 2 pic.twitter.com/7nRzbZTee8
The Bruins managed just four total shots in the second period alone.
A minute into the third, Geekie and Pastrnak tallied assists on Elias Lindholm’s first goal of the playoffs to put the Bruins up 2-0.
With 7:58 left, the Sabres finally came alive and cut the lead in half, sending the Buffalo faithful into a frenzy inside and outside the arena.
It took 33 shots, but Buffalo’s Thompson made it 2-1 in his playoff debut with a wraparound to finally beat Jeremy Swayman.
Three minutes later on the Sabres’ 37th shot on goal, they tied it 2-2 as the rally continued.
Who else but Thompson to score his second goal of the game and put the Sabres in position to complete the rally..
After the goal, the Sabres and Bruins each picked up two roughing penalties as the teams clashed along the boards. Play stayed five-on-five with 3:47 left, and the Sabres completed the rally.
Mattias Samuelsson put the Sabres up 3-2 as they scored three straight goals in a span of four minutes.
Tuch buried the empty-netter off a Thompson assist to make it 4-2.
Pastrnak scored with seconds left, assisted by Geekie, to cut it to 4-3, but it wasn’t enough. The Sabres took Game 1 after outshooting Boston 38-20, with both teams combining for 91 hits.
Luukkonen also earned his first career playoff win.
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