- Tage Thompson scored twice and added an assist in his playoff debut, joining Pierre Turgeon as the only Sabres to post three points in a postseason debut
- Mattias Samuelsson’s go-ahead at 16:36 of the third capped a three-goal burst in 4:34 against Jeremy Swayman
- Read below for full details on Buffalo’s first playoff win since 2011, plus video and reaction from Thompson and Lindy Ruff
Fifteen years of waiting. Eight minutes of pandemonium.
The Buffalo Sabres were staring down a 2-0 hole and a Boston crowd of doubters when they turned Game 1 on its head Sunday night at KeyBank Center, rattling off three goals in a 4:34 stretch to stun the Bruins 4-3 in their first playoff game since April 26, 2011.
Morgan Geekie banged in a rebound 10:52 into the first. Elias Lindholm made it 2-0 just 1:08 into the third after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen kicked a Geekie one-timer into the circle.
Buffalo’s long-awaited return to the postseason was starting to look like a cameo.
Then Thompson found the corner of a broken play behind Swayman’s net at 12:02, wrapping a puck inside the right post to halve the deficit.
Three minutes and 42 seconds later, Alex Tuch forced a turnover in the neutral zone, fed Thompson on a two-on-one, and Thompson slid it five-hole from below the left circle to tie it.
Fifty-two seconds after that, Jack Quinn dug a puck out of the wall and sent it to Samuelsson at the top of the left circle. The defenseman didn’t think twice. Swayman, who finished with 34 saves, had no chance on the rip.
Tuch buried an empty-netter at 18:48 to make it 4-2 before David Pastrnak answered on the power play with eight seconds left. By then it was window dressing. The building had already decided what kind of night this was.
“I think eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for something like this,” Thompson said afterward.
Lindy Ruff, back behind the Buffalo bench in his second stint, kept it simple after watching his team weather a quiet first 40 minutes. “We knew there were some areas we needed to be better, but this is about trusting how you play,” Ruff said.
This is a franchise that just clinched its first division title since 2010 and had gone through 14 straight lottery springs since Brad Boyes scored Buffalo’s last playoff goal against the Flyers. The whole sequence felt like a collective exhale.
The Bruins, the East’s first wild card, now have to reset for Game 2 on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Boston dominated two periods and still walked out with nothing. Pastrnak (1G, 2A) and Geekie (1G, 2A) each put up three points. Swayman’s 34 saves were largely outstanding. None of it mattered.
Buffalo’s playoff drought is over. Whatever comes next, the Sabres already got the one they needed.
