Sabres hungry for another chance to finish off Bruins in Game 6 

BUFFALO -- After years of waiting, the Buffalo Sabres not only have a taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they have also savored winning in the playoffs.

Their 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Tuesday has further fueled their appetite for more success.  They’ll aim to feed that craving and close out the best-of-7 series on their second try in Game 6 at TD Garden in Boston on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).

Center Tage Thompson, who scored the gold medal-winning goal for Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championship and won gold as a member of Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, said it doesn’t get any better than this, especially for a franchise and fanbase that hadn’t seen playoff hockey since the 2011 season.   

“It feels great (to be in the playoff battle),” Thompson said. “That’s what it’s all about -- big games. I’ve been fortunate enough to play in some big games and come out on the right side, and once you get that taste of winning, it’s a drug, it’s all you want. I think being out of it so long, finally being here just really makes you hungry to see how far you can go.”

Buffalo holds a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series and will try again on Friday to win a playoff series for the first time since 2007. It won Games 3 and 4 in Boston; Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period in a 3-1 victory in Game 3 before the Sabres skated to 6-1 win in Game 4. 

With a large contingent of the Sabres roster experiencing the postseason for the first in their NHL careers, each game exposes them to new situations and teaches them how to handle the ebbs and flows within the game and from one to the next.

“I thought we let it slip away last game,” forward Tuch said about Game 5. “Leaves a little bit of a bad taste in your mouth and makes you a little hungry, makes you want more. And I think it all comes down that first period, having a really good first period and then just battling from there on out.”

Thompson sparked the Sabres rally in their 4-3 win in Game 1, scoring their first two goals in less than four minutes in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit. He hasn’t been able to beat Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman since, though he’s earned an assist in each of the past two games.  

“I like a challenge,” Thompson said. “I think everyone in the room wants to play in games that are hard and games that you’ve got to fight through and compete and get gritty and get around the net. I think that's the way you're going to score goals in the playoffs. … 

“I feel like as a group, we've been doing a pretty good job of that. It's just sometimes the puck doesn't bounce our way. And you've got to remember, they've got a good goalie, too, so he's doing his job. We’ve just got to find a way to put it in.”

Resiliency has been key for the Sabres amid their torrid stretch from Dec. 9 through the end of the regular season. Only once did they lose three in a row (0-1-2) during their 39-9-5 run from last place in the Eastern Conference to the top of the Atlantic Division.

“We owned that opportunity to be here,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We trusted what we did the whole year and we trusted the process to get to this point. You’ve got to continue to trust it. You know that game in, game out, it's a team the whole year that has won together and lost together. But embrace this moment. 

“Somebody for us is going to be a big-time player. I can't tell you who that is, but somebody will.”