Sabres rally with 4 goals late in 3rd, shock Bruins in Game 1 of East 1st Round

BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Sabres shocked the Boston Bruins by scoring three goals in a 4:34 span late in the third period en route to a 4-3 come-from-behind win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at KeyBank Center on Sunday.

Buffalo was playing its first Stanley Cup Playoff game since April 26, 2011.

“We’ve been in games that have prepared us for this,” Sabres center Tage Thompson said. “I think eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for something like this. I think any time you go eight years not making the playoffs and then it’s finally here, the last thing you want is regret.

“There’s just a heightened feeling of hunger. You just don’t want to let this opportunity slip. I thought tonight was really important to make a statement and set our standard. I think we still have another level to get to. We’re just going to keep trying every game to find another level.”

Thompson had two goals and an assist, Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves for the Sabres, who are the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division.

David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie each had a goal and two assists for the Bruins, who are the first wild card from the East. Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

“It's a seven-game series,” Geekie said. “Everyone is going to say you can't really lose the series in Game 1, but we put ourselves behind the eight ball, and we knew they were going to come out hard. They're a good team over there. So, I think it is important kind of get back on the horse and just continue to build our game. It's a long series.”

Thompson started the Sabres' comeback by cutting it to 2-1 at 12:02 of the third period. He got control of a loose puck behind the net and wrapped it inside the right post past the left skate of Swayman, who was looking the other way.

Thompson then tied it 2-2 at 15:44, scoring five-hole from below the left circle after Tuch forced a turnover behind the net by Andrew Peeke.

“I think those two goals are exactly what we wanted to do all night, put pucks behind them, pound their 'D,' make it a tough night on them and just hit the repeat button on that,” Thompson said. “You go back for enough pucks, it's pretty exhausting. Create loose pucks and get chances from there, and fortunately they went in for us.”

Mattias Samuelsson gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead just 52 seconds later at 16:36. He received a pass from Jack Quinn and beat a screened Swayman high to the blocker side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.

“I saw ‘Quinner’ coming out of the corner with the puck. Not sure where the winger was, but I thought it was pretty open there. I just tried to call for it,” Samuelsson said. “Quinner made an unbelievable play, and I thought I could slip it short side there.”

Tuch added an empty-net goal at 18:48 to push it to 4-2.

Pastrnak scored a power-play goal to make it 4-3 with eight seconds remaining, but the Bruins weren't able to win the ensuing face-off and get one final attempt on net.

“I thought we were in the perfect spot. We were exactly where we wanted to play, being in that position with five or six minutes left in the game,” Boston coach Marco Sturm said. “You could tell they got a little bit frustrated and, yeah, we made pretty much two mistakes to let them tie up the game.

“Obviously, with the crowd behind them, they got some life and the game is done. Very unfortunate because my guys played really well. Really well. But that’s playoffs. That’s something we have to learn again the hard way. We just have to stick with it for 60 minutes.”

Geekie gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 10:52 of the first period. Rasmus Dahlin blocked Pastrnak’s initial shot, but Geekie skated into the puck at the right hash marks, where he beat Luukkonen glove side with a slap shot.

Elias Lindholm made it 2-0 at 1:08 of the third period. He buried a rebound in the bottom of the right circle after Luukkonen stopped Geekie's one-timer from point-blank range.

“Just talked about getting back in the game,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said of the energy in the room after the second period. “That if we trust what we're doing and continue to do it well we'll get an opportunity to score goals. The energy was good. ... We knew there were some areas of the game we needed to be better, but part of this is believing in how you play and trusting how you play.”

NOTES: The Sabres are the eighth team in NHL postseason history to win in regulation after trailing by multiple goals in the final 10 minutes of the third period. It was also the second multigoal third-period comeback in Buffalo's history (Game 4 of the 1993 Division Semifinals against the Bruins). ... Thompson is the second player in Buffalo's history to have three points in their playoff debut, joining Pierre Turgeon. … Thompson’s first goal was the first playoff goal by a Sabres player since Brad Boyes scored in Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.