David Pastrnak scored the winning goal 9:14 into overtime and the Boston Bruins staved off elimination with a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
The Sabres lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. Game 6 in Boston is set for Friday.
Buffalo got the pushback it was expecting from Boston, which was coming off consecutive losses on home ice and playing with its season on the line. Rasmus Dahlin scored an early power-play goal for the Sabres, but offense was hard to come by from there. Elias Lindholm netted the tying goal for the Bruins midway through the second period.
The Sabres had chances to win the game late – including one for Tyson Kozak late in regulation that was stuffed by the pad of goaltender Jeremy Swayman and another for Jason Zucker early in overtime – but it was Pastrnak who got behind the defense and deked his way to the overtime winner.
Alex Lyon made 27 saves for Buffalo. Swayman stopped 25 shots for Boston.
Dahlin’s goal snapped an 11-game drought for the Buffalo power play, which had been 0-for-39 dating back to April 2. (Josh Doan had effectively scored with the extra man in Game 4, but it came seconds after a power play had expired.)
The Sabres lost Noah Ostlund to a lower-body injury, which he sustained after getting tangled with Bruins forward Casey Mittelstadt while battling for a puck in the corner with 8:30 remaining in the first period. Ostlund briefly returned from the dressing room to test the injury but immediately went back down the tunnel.
