BUFFALO, NY – The Boston Bruins (2-3) are still alive.
With a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres (3-2), the Bruins forced a Game 6 on Friday night at the TD Garden.
David Pastrnak (2) scored the overtime win to book the sixth game. Elias Lindholm (2) had the lone Bruins goal in regulation, coming at 9:24 of the second period.
The Bruins made some changes to their Game 5 lineup. Viktor Arvidsson did not travel with the team, and Lukas Reichel came out of the lineup; they were replaced by Mikey Eyssimont and Alex Steeves. Former Buffalo Sabre Henri Jokiharju made his playoff debut, taking the spot of Jordan Harris.
With the changes, Marco Sturm hit the blender and shuffled the lines.
#NHLBruins in warmups:Khusnutdinov – Zacha – PastrnakMittelstadt – Minten – GeekieEyssimont – ELindholm – SteevesJeannot – Kuraly – KastelicAspirot – McAvoyHLindholm – JokiharjuZadorov – PeekeSwayman
Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring at 3:35, connecting on a one-timer set up by Jason Zucker. The goal marked the Sabres’ first power play goal of the series, and their first since March 31.
The Bruins had a power play of their own but did not convert, getting two shots on Alex Lyon.
Casey Mittelstadt made awkward contact with Sabres forward Noah Ostlund, who immediately went down the tunnel. Before the second period, the Sabres ruled him out with a lower-body injury.
The only forward line Marco Sturm did not touch was the fourth, consisting of Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, and Mark Kastelic. They were able to generate offense while playing their physical brand of hockey, but Lyon kept them off the board in the first 20 minutes.
The Sabres led 1-0 at the first intermission, but the Bruins were outshooting them 9-5.
Elias Lindholm tied the game for the Bruins just before the halfway mark of the second period, taking his own rebound and using Mittelstadt as a screen to beat Alex Lyon.
The Bruins kept pushing for offense after their goal, but did not get anything else by Lyon. Jonathan Aspirot hit the post, and Morgan Geekie put a feed from Pavel Zacha over the crossbar.
The Bruins outshot the Sabres 16-13 through two periods, with the score tied 1-1 heading into the third.
Alex Tuch was penalized for a high stick on Jonathan Aspirot, but the Bruins’ power play came up empty.
Jeremy Swayman stretched from post to post to deny Tage Thompson a scoring chance in the third period. He also stopped chances from Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Quinn to keep the game tied.
The game remained tied after the third period of play, and for the first time in the series, the Bruins and Sabres were headed to overtime.
The Bruins outshot the Sabres 25-20 through regulation and outhit them 38-24.
At the 9:14 mark of overtime, David Pastrnak scored the game-winner.
PASTA SCORES WE ARE HEADING TO A GAME 6!!!! 🔥🚨 pic.twitter.com/ENHh3BmSTj