- Pastrnak buried a backhand-to-forehand finish at 9:14 of OT to win Game 5, 2-1
- Hampus Lindholm sprung him on a partial break, Bruins now trail the series 3-2
- Read below for the goal video and what Pastrnak told Boston fans heading into Game 6
David Pastrnak had the touch when the Bruins needed it most.
The Boston winger faked Alex Lyon out of his skates and tucked a forehand past the Sabres goalie at 9:14 of overtime Tuesday at KeyBank Center, lifting the Bruins to a 2-1 win in Game 5. The result trims Buffalo’s series lead to 3-2 and sends the Eastern Conference First Round back to TD Garden for Friday night.
The play started with a Marat Khusnutdinov turnover at the Boston blue line. Hampus Lindholm picked it up, spotted Pastrnak swooping through the neutral zone, and dished a stretch pass into open ice. Pastrnak outraced Mattias Samuelsson, faked a shot to Lyon’s stick side, and slid the puck home on his backhand-to-forehand move.
It was Pastrnak’s second career overtime goal in an elimination game. The other came against Toronto in Game 7 of the 2024 First Round, also off a Lindholm feed.
“Well, we are neighbors, so we always call it the neighbor connection,” Pastrnak said of his defenseman. “It’s just a great play, great eyes. Seems like anytime he has the puck and I have an opening, I have the confidence that he’s going to find me.”
Jeremy Swayman kept Boston in the building before Pastrnak ended it. The Bruins goalie turned aside 24 of 25 shots, including a doorstep stop on Jason Zucker that forced overtime in the first place.
Here’s the goal video:
Buffalo had a chance to close it out at home after hammering the Bruins 6-1 in Game 4 to grab a 3-1 stranglehold. That cushion is gone now, with at least one more game guaranteed back in Boston.
Pastrnak credited the room for refusing to fold, and his message to fans heading into Friday was direct.
“It was all our focus to get the series back to Boston to show our fans again,” Pastrnak told NESN postgame. “We are not going to quit. We never quit. We didn’t quit the whole season.”
Game 6 drops Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
