BUFFALO, NY – The atmosphere inside the KeyBank Center was second to none, and it only grew louder in the third period.
Morgan Geekie (1), Elias Lindholm (1), and David Pastrnak (1) scored for the Boston Bruins (0-1), but they could not withstand a four-goal third period from the Buffalo Sabres (1-0) and dropped the first game of the series.
Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves, including stops on the first 32 shots he faced.
It was the first playoff home game in Buffalo since April 24, 2011.
The game started with an impressive shift from the new kids’ line, consisting of James Hagens, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov.
The Sabres followed with some physicality, Mattias Samuelsson caught Khusnutdinov, and Beck Malenstyn knocked Hampus Lindholm over shortly after the play resumed.
Elias Lindholm moved Ryan McLeod out of the way, freeing the puck for Morgan Geekie. He connected from the slot for his seventh career playoff goal and gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 9:02 to play in the first period.
Jeremy Swayman was called on in the first period, especially on the penalty kill. He made two key saves, including one where he was pushed into his goal, on his way to 14 in the first period.
The Bruins skated into their locker room with a 1-0 lead, but trailed shots 14-9 and hits 23-14.
In the second period, David Pastrnak had two breakaway chances that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen denied.
The Sabres poured 13 shots onto Swayman in the second period, and he stopped them all. On the other end of the ice, the Bruins only registered four shots on Luukkonen and trailed 27-13 in shots; the scoreboard read 1-0 Boston after 40 minutes.
Elias Lindholm extended the Bruins’ lead to two just 68 seconds into the third period. He collected a rebound off Morgan Geekie’s stick and beat Luukkonen five-hole.
Tage Thompson scored the Sabres’ first playoff goal since April 26, 2011, beating Swayman on a wrap-around and putting the Sabres on the board with 7:58 to play.
Thompson tied the game 3:42 later. He beat Swayman glove-side from 14 feet out.
Mattias Samuelsson nearly blew the roof off of KeyBank Center when he gave the Sabres a lead with 3:24 to play in regulation.
And Alex Tuch, the Sabres’ most experienced playoff skater, buried an empty net goal with 1:12 to go.
David Pastrnak scored off a fluky backhand shot with eight seconds to go in regulation, but the goal was too little, too late for the Bruins, who are now trailing the Sabres 1-0 in the best-of-7 series.
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