Sabres snap 15‑year drought
- The Buffalo Sabres earned their first playoff win since 2011 with a four‑goal third period comeback. - That late surge overturned the Boston Bruins and gave Buffalo momentum in the opening series game. - The victory breaks a long postseason drought and can quickly reshape the emotional balance of the matchup. (espn.com)
Buffalo ended a 15-year wait for a playoff win Sunday night, scoring four times in the third period to beat Boston 4-3 in Game 1 at KeyBank Center. (nhl.com) The Sabres trailed 2-0 after Elias Lindholm scored 1:08 into the third, then got two goals from Tage Thompson, the tying goal at 15:44 and the spark at 12:02. Mattias Samuelsson put Buffalo ahead 52 seconds later, and Alex Tuch added an empty-net goal with 1:12 left. (nhl.com) David Pastrnak scored with seven seconds remaining and finished with a goal and two assists for Boston. Morgan Geekie had a goal and two assists, Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 shots for Buffalo. (nbcsports.com) Buffalo had not played a postseason game since April 26, 2011, and had not won one since a 1-0 home victory over Philadelphia on April 20, 2011. This season, the Sabres won the Atlantic Division and ended what NHL.com described as the league’s longest active playoff drought. (nhl.com) (nbcsports.com) The comeback also cut against Boston’s usual script. The Bruins finished the regular season 33-2-4 when leading after two periods, and still lost after taking a 2-0 edge into the final eight minutes. (nbcsports.com) For Buffalo, the win revived a franchise postseason history that had stalled for more than a decade. NHL.com reported the Sabres have not won a playoff series since 2007, when they reached the Eastern Conference final and lost to Ottawa in five games. (nhl.com) Thompson said Buffalo’s years outside the playoffs had hardened the group more than its lack of postseason games hurt it. Geekie said after the loss that Boston had put itself “behind the eight ball” but called it a long series. (nhl.com) Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, in Buffalo at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, with the Sabres now trying to turn one late rally into a series lead before the matchup shifts to Boston. (nhl.com)
