Lance Lysowski: If this was the Bruins' ideal approach vs. Sabres, they're in trouble
If this was the Bruins' ideal approach for most of a playoff game, then they're in trouble. It took longer than they would have preferred, but the Sabres found answers.
Silencing the deafening roar in an arena filled with playoff-starved hockey fans did not require a remarkable individual effort from a superstar player, nor an egregious mistake by a team lacking playoff experience.
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) celebrates his second goal of the game against the Boston Bruins during the third period of
Game One of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the KeyBank Center on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Rasmus Dahlin, the Buffalo Sabres' captain, put his body on the line to block David Pastrnak's shot, but the puck went directly to the slot. With a flick of both wrists, Boston Bruins winger Connor Geekie scored the first goal of their first-round playoff series Sunday night in KeyBank Center.
Keeping the 19,070 fans quiet, however, required more than the Bruins were able to deliver. Eight minutes away from winning Game 1, they allowed four goals in less than five minutes to lose to the Sabres, 4-3.
"We were exactly where we wanted to play, being in that position five or six minutes left in the game," said Bruins coach Marco Sturm. "You could tell they got a little bit frustrated and, yeah, we made pretty much two mistakes to let them tie up the game.
"Obviously, with the crowd behind them, they got some life, and the game is done. Very unfortunate, because my guys played really well. Really well. But that’s playoffs. That’s something we have to learn the hard way again. We just have to stick with it for 60 minutes."
If this was the Bruins' ideal approach for most of a playoff game, then they're in trouble.
It took longer than they would have preferred, but the Sabres found answers.
In some ways, Sturm's assessment was accurate. His team did not allow a goal for 52 minutes. But Boston also created next to nothing offensively, aside from its two goals, and it imploded at the first sign of trouble.
The arena in downtown Buffalo shook when Tage Thompson scored twice in a span of 3:42 and again less than a minute later as Mattias Samuelsson's wrist shot went over the shoulder of Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman. After Thompson's tying goal, Boston's players lost their composure. Sabres defenseman Logan Stanley got punched in the face. Two Bruins went after Zach Benson.
The Bruins weren't leading because they're the more talented team. They were just having more success at all the details within a game that led to wins during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And if Boston finds a way to rally from the 1-0 series deficit, it won't be a product of speed or skill. To survive and advance, the Bruins want to frustrate the Sabres into game-changing mistakes.
Sturm, their first-year head coach, took a not-so-subtle jab at the Sabres earlier last week when he called his team “bigger and stronger.” The comment, albeit poorly worded, was spot-on, and he knew it Sunday morning when a reporter raised the topic during a press conference.
"It was very plain to see when we were on the top of our game, and we were hard on the puck, strong on pucks, were physical, we had a chance," Sturm said of the team's four regular-season meetings. "And if we decide to play their way, might as well stay at home, because they’re that good."
Who’s better at boxing out forwards in front of their net? Who disrupts more passes through the neutral zone? Which team can fight through traffic to get to a loose puck? Are you able to wear out your opponent by finishing checks? Is your neutral-zone forecheck detailed and organized? Are you forcing your opponent to settle for perimeter shot attempts while you wait patiently for them to make a mistake?
For 50 minutes Sunday night, the Bruins were better in most of those areas. The Sabres had a 27-13 edge in shots on goal at the second intermission, but most of those did not challenge Swayman. According to Natural Stat Trick, Buffalo had just three high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 through 30 minutes. Over the final 30 minutes, Boston gave up seven high-danger scoring chances.
On the Sabres' first goal, Peyton Krebs won a puck battle behind the Bruins' net. On the tying goal, Thompson and Alex Tuch battled for the puck, until Thompson stickhandled to the front of the net to beat Swayman with 4:16 left in regulation. On the go-ahead goal, Samuelsson had time and space to shoot, while Jack Quinn screened Swayman.
"They did a great job of penetrating our zone, and there were a lot of quality chances," said Swayman, who made 34 saves. "That’s important to reduce those and, at the same time, keep them at bay and do a great job at blocking shots and making simple plays to limit that zone time."
The Sabres controlled the puck for most of the game. Based on the postgame comments by Sturm and his players, Boston expects the trend to continue. The Bruins will be content if they lose the time-of-possession battle. Their focus is on playing disciplined defense and working patiently to force their opponent into a mistake.
Trouble began for Buffalo in the first period when Ryan McLeod attempted a no-look pass to try to get out of his zone. Twice, Pastrnak earned a breakaway, only to be stopped by Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Don't be surprised when it happens again. Lindy Ruff mentioned to reporters Sunday morning that no one in the league is as good at assessing risk as Pastrnak, because he knows when to leave his defensive zone to try to cheat for offense. But the Sabres' penalty kill went 2 for 3, and they gave up just one high-danger scoring chance in the second period.
We didn't see the big, bad Bruins that Strum portrayed in a press conference last week. From the start, Buffalo was the more physical team. It had a season-high 53 hits and a significant advantage in shot attempts (70-46). The Sabres set a tone early, including Samuelsson's big hit on Marat Khusnutdinov. They swarmed the net each time there was a scoring chance, leading to multiple scrums around Boston's net.
A less experienced team may be shocked following a loss as brutal as this one. The Bruins weren't. Some of their players have seen it all, including this season. Twice, they lost six games in a row. They lost five in a row less than three weeks ago. They knew when they left for Buffalo that this had the potential to be a long, difficult series. If anyone in Boston's locker room had doubts, the Sabres showed they're not to be underestimated.
"We knew they were going to come out the way they did and just try to weather the storm," Geekie said. "They got one early, and we got back on our heels a little bit. It’s the playoffs. That’s how the games are going to be now. We’ve just got to find ways to weather their push and continue to play our game and close the next one out."