Game 3 takeaways | Ostlund ignites Sabres in playoff debut

BOSTON – Noah Ostlund admitted to feeling nervous as he felt his way through the early moments of his first career playoff game at TD Garden.

Ostlund had missed the first two games of Buffalo’s playoff run due to an upper-body injury, but he was hardly alone in his inexperience. This particular test – a playoff road game, coming off a loss – was a new one for this Sabres team at large.

Ostlund passed with flying colors, as did his team. The rookie put the Sabres on the board with a highlight-reel assist, then hustled to score an empty-net goal to win Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Bruins 3-1 on Thursday.

The Sabres lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Sunday afternoon in Boston.

“I was a little bit nervous, but it was fun,” Ostlund said. “And we got the win too.”

Alex Lyon made his first start of the playoffs and made 24 saves, including a penalty shot from Viktor Arvidsson with the Sabres trailing 1-0 during the second period.  Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch both scored their second goals of the playoffs.

• Read more: Recapping Lyon's momentum-shifting Game 3 performance

But it was the playmaking of Ostlund that helped turn the tide after the Bruins scored first for the third time in as many games. The rookie carried the puck over the offensive blue line and head-faked as he drifted down behind the goal line, then squeezed a low-to-high pass to set up Byram’s tying goal from the other side of the net.   

“Honestly, he kind of surprised me a bit there,” Byram said. “I wasn’t sure he was going to get it through to me. Unreal pass by him for sure.”

It’s the sort of playmaking Ostlund displayed throughout his rookie year, which – combined with detailed defensive play and tenacious effort – turned him into a key presence on the Sabres' roster after he’d begun the season with Rochester.

Ostlund’s assist ignited the Sabres, who took the lead on Tuch’s goal early in the third and then protected it with a pair of late penalty kills. That set the stage for Ostlund’s empty-net goal, which saw the 22-year-old race ahead of three Bruins to grab a loose puck off the end boards. He immediately spun around and shot into the empty net, between the legs of Bruins superstar David Pastrnak.

“The scouting report on Pastrnak when he’s in goal is you’ve got to go five-hole,” coach Lindy Ruff quipped postgame.

Ostlund had been out since sustaining an upper-body injury in Boston on March 25. He entered the lineup in place of Josh Norris, who is being evaluated for an injury of his own and is considered day to day.

“Jumping right in, he hasn’t played a game in a couple weeks, first-ever playoff hockey game in his rookie year,” Tuch said. “… That’s special. I mean, the hockey IQ’s off the charts. But honestly, the compete, he went in there every single shift, made a difference every single shift, and he was phenomenal tonight.”

Here’s more from the Game 3 win.

Lyon seizes the moment

Lyon felt he benefited from the playing time he received in Game 2, when he entered in relief of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen during the third period and stopped each of the seven shots he faced. It was his first action since April 4, having missed the interim time with an injury.

He got the nod for Game 3 – Ruff has reiterated his willingness to use any of the team’s three goalies in these playoffs – and was up to the task, making key stops throughout the win and serving as the last line of defense for the Buffalo penalty kill.

Lyon made a series of sprawling saves on the Bruins’ first power play to keep the game scoreless during the first period. He was squarely in position to stop a Mark Kastelic deflection with the Sabres leading 2-1 in the third.

And – with the Boston crowd chanting his name – he made the crucial save on Arvidsson’s penalty shot to keep the deficit at 1-0 midway through the second period. Byram tied the game a minute later.

“We came in with a great mindset and you could feel it in the room, that we were just going to send it for 60 minutes and kind of that's all you can do, you know?” Lyon said. “And so, I think we did a really good job of that. We were engaged right from the start and, yeah, I felt confident, and that's just what you're searching for. The team gave me confidence, and we played desperately, so it was good.”

A clutch night from the PK

The Sabres’ penalty kill – ranked among the NHL’s best all season – showed up in a big way late, holding the Bruins off the board on a pair of power plays during the last 10 minutes.

Beck Malenstyn, Mattias Samuelsson and Conor Timmins each came up with blocked shots on those kills. Tuch and Ryan McLeod – two of the league’s premier shorthanded threats these past two seasons – routinely forced turnovers and brought the puck to the Bruins’ end.

“Just kind of locking it down, being aggressive when we could, causing turnovers but also not giving up seams, and blocking shots when we had to,” Tuch said. “And, like I said, pressuring when we found the opportunity.”

Sticking with it

The Sabres found themselves trailing for the third straight game after they were unable to capitalize on their own early power plays. (They finished the night 0-for-5 with the extra man, though their final opportunity was only seconds long as the game ended.)

The Bruins were again playing physically, clogging the neutral zone and boxing out in front of goaltender Jeremy Swayman. It could have drummed up frustration, but the Sabres were undeterred. Eventually, their speed and forechecking broke through.

“We just tried to focus on playing our game tonight and making them keep up with us,” Byram said. “I feel like the first couple of games, we got dragged into the mud a bit and let them dictate. That was definitely our best game so far.”

The Sabres have proven their ability to handle the highs and lows of playoffs – within a game and within a series. Just as they flushed their Game 2 loss, they’ll look to move on quickly from this win as they turn their focus to Game 4.

“That’s the battle of the playoffs: You’ve got to be ready to put away a big win,” Ruff said. “We have to be ready to put this game away and get ready for a really desperate team on Sunday in their building. Just the same way they have to put the game away and know that they’ve got to battle and bounce back. It’s something that our guys, some of them, haven’t been through, but they’ve got a little bit of a taste of it.”

Postgame sound

Up next

Game 4 is Sunday at 2 p.m. in Boston. The game will air on MSG in the Sabres broadcast market with pregame coverage beginning at 1:30. The national broadcast will be on TNT, truTV and HBO Max.