Lyon Steals Game 3, Sabres Take 2-1 Series Lead at TD Garden

Alex Lyon, in his first start of the series, stopped 24 of 25 shots; Bowen Byram, Alex Tuch and Noah Ostlund (empty net) scored; and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 at TD Garden on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference First Round.

Boston Bruins 1 - 3 Buffalo Sabres (periods 0-0, 1-1, 0-2)

Goals: 23:26 Jeannot (McAvoy) — 30:58 Byram (Ostlund), 44:03 Tuch (Thompson), 58:36 Ostlund (Byram, EN).

Goalies: Swayman (25 saves) — Lyon (24 saves).

Series: Buffalo lead 2-1.

Boston scores first — for the third straight game

Tanner Jeannot opened the scoring 3:26 into the second period off a Charlie McAvoy assist for Boston's third straight first goal of the series. The pattern, however, has stopped translating to wins. Bowen Byram tied it at 10:58 from a feed from rookie Noah Ostlund — Ostlund's first playoff point in his playoff debut after returning from injury.

Tuch breaks Boston, Lyon makes it stick

Alex Tuch put Buffalo ahead at 4:03 of the third with help from Tage Thompson, and that's the lead Lyon protected the rest of the way. Boston pushed late but Lyon held — the only Bruin he could not deny was Jeannot. Ostlund hit the empty net at 18:36 to make it three-and-done.

Lyon, the difference

After Luukkonen allowed seven goals on 40 shots across Games 1-2, head coach Lindy Ruff went with Lyon — the move paid off immediately. Swayman was solid for Boston with 25 saves of his own but watched his team blow another first-period lead, the third straight game in which the Bruins scored first only to lose the lead.

What it means

Buffalo lead the best-of-seven 2-1 with Game 4 also at TD Garden on Sunday. Lyon's surprise emergence as the playoff starter changes Buffalo's calculus — and the road sweep would have been an enormous shift if he had to relinquish the crease on a single bad moment.