Sabres' 4:34 Comeback Stuns Bruins. Buffalo Wins First Playoff Game Since 2011

Tage Thompson scored twice in the third period and the Buffalo Sabres scored three goals in a 4:34 span to rally past the Boston Bruins 4-3 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at KeyBank Center on Sunday — Buffalo's first playoff game in 14 years.

Buffalo Sabres – Boston Bruins 4:3 (0:1, 0:0, 4:2)

Goals: 52:02 Thompson (Krebs), 55:44 Thompson (Tuch), 56:36 Samuelsson (Quinn), 58:30 Tuch (EN) – 10:52 Geekie (Pastrnak, Zadorov), 41:08 Lindholm (Geekie, Pastrnak), 59:14 Pastrnak (Zacha, Geekie, PP).

Goalies: Luukkonen (17 saves) – Swayman (34 saves).

/series: 1-0 BUF/

Boston Builds the Lead

Morgan Geekie put Boston up 1-0 at 10:52 of the first from David Pastrnak and Nikita Zadorov on a clean entry. The middle frame stayed scoreless thanks to a strong goalie battle, and Elias Lindholm appeared to break it open at 1:08 of the third on a feed from Geekie and Pastrnak. Through 41 minutes, Boston led 2-0 and Buffalo's first playoff game since 2011 was slipping away.

Thompson Sparks the Storm

Tage Thompson struck at 12:02 of the third from Peyton Krebs to make it 2-1. Three minutes and 42 seconds later, at 15:44, Thompson tied it from Alex Tuch — and 52 seconds after that, at 16:36, Mattias Samuelsson buried a Jack Quinn feed for a 3-2 Buffalo lead. Three goals in 4:34. The KeyBank Center crowd, missing playoff hockey for 14 years, exploded.

Tuch Seals It, Pastrnak's Late Power Play Falls Short

With Boston pressing and the net empty, Tuch added an empty-net goal at 18:30 to give the Sabres a 4-2 cushion. David Pastrnak's power-play goal at 19:14 came too late — the result was Buffalo 4, Boston 3, and a comeback for the franchise's record book.

Luukkonen's Calm Playoff Debut

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made just 17 saves but they were the right ones — including a pair of breakaway stops on Pastrnak that kept the deficit at 2-0 rather than 3-0 entering the comeback. Boston coach Marco Sturm summed up the loss: "That's playoffs. That's something we have to learn again the hard way." Thompson, asked about the moment: "There's just a heightened feeling of hunger. You just don't want to let this opportunity slip."

What It Means

Buffalo wins its first playoff game since April 26, 2011 — and joins an exclusive list as just 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. Game 2 stays in Buffalo, with Boston needing to find a way to close out games it dominates for 50 minutes.