Tage Thompson Scored Twice in 8 Minutes and the Sabres Just Ended 15 Years of Playoff Heartbreak
Buffalo came back from down 2-0 in the third period to beat Boston 4-3 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday night. After 15 years without a playoff win, the Sabres' comeback was the kind of moment that makes you jump off the couch. Tage Thompson scored two of the four goals in the final eight minutes to spark the rally, with Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch adding the other two.
Thompson made it 2-1 at 12:02 of the third when he pulled the puck from behind the Boston net and pushed it across the goal line. Less than four minutes later, he tied it 2-2 by recovering the puck below the goal line and sliding it under Swayman's pads at 15:44. Samuelsson gave Buffalo the lead with a wrist shot from just above the left hash marks at 16:36. Tuch sealed it with an empty netter at 1:12 remaining, making it 4-2 before Pastrnak scored a power-play goal with eight seconds left to cut it to 4-3 final.
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Boston came out strong. Morgan Geekie scored first at 10:52 of the first period when a Pastrnak shot was blocked by Rasmus Dahlin, and the rebound came to Geekie in the slot for a one-timer. The Bruins made it 2-0 at 1:08 of the third when Geekie's shot from the slot hit the right post and bounced to Elias Lindholm, who fired it home from the right hash marks. For most of the night, it looked like Boston's game to lose.
But Buffalo dominated shot count, especially in the middle frame. The Sabres outshot the Bruins 13-4 in the second period and held a 27-13 advantage going into the third. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves, including two big stops on Pastrnak breakaways during the second period that kept the deficit manageable.
Game 2 Is Tuesday in Buffalo
The Sabres are the Atlantic Division champions and Boston is the first wild card from the East. This series continues Tuesday night at KeyBank Center. After 15 years away from the playoffs, Buffalo just proved they belong on the big stage.
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