BOSTON – The thing about the Buffalo Sabres playing in the postseason for the first time in 15 years is we have no book on them as a playoff team. We know plenty about them from the regular season, sure, but the playoffs? Every game is a learning experience for everyone. Players, coaches, fans, us media dorks – everyone.
What we learned from the regular season, however, is their resilience and ability to reset from game to game, win or lose. They had to do that in Game 3 after a disappointing Game 2 loss or else face a far more stressful situation in Game 4. That test was studied and aced on Thursday night at TD Garden in a 3-1 win.
“We’ve talked about the emotion of winning a big game, then we talked about, you’ve got to get through the emotion of losing a tough game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “You lose at home, and you had all this emotion after Game 1, and that’s the battle of the playoffs: You’ve got to be ready to put away a big win.”
The lineup was different.
Alex Lyon started after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had a less-than enjoyable start in Game 2. Josh Norris missed the game with an injury (day-to-day) and Josh Dunne was subbed out for Tyson Kozak. Noah Östlund replaced Norris and proceeded to have one hell of a rookie playoff debut with a goal and an assist. His helper set up Bo Byram’s tying goal in the second period while his goal was an empty netter that sealed it up late in the third.
Getting that kind of performance from a guy who last played March 25 against Boston who’s also in his first full NHL season is impressive. All season, Östlund has been unflappable in how he’s handled being in the NHL. He’s a quiet guy who has a boatload of skill and excellent defensive instincts. When he came up from Rochester this season, there’s no doubt Americans coach Mike Leone knew he wouldn’t get him back barring something strange.
Of course, there was the strangeness that surround his short return to Rochester that became a sore point for the fans with former GM Kevyn Adams making that decision. When he returned, he showed he belonged and now he’s in the playoffs putting in a performance fans won’t forget.
“The hockey IQ’s off the charts,” Alex Tuch said. “But honestly, the compete, he went in there every single shift, made a difference every single shift, and he was phenomenal tonight.”
In between those goals, Tuch had the go-ahead goal in the third after the Sabres weathered the first period on the road and a second period penalty shot from Viktor Arvidsson that missed on the way to victory. Lyon’s glancing blocker save on Arvidsson helped calm down the Bruins’ threat and gave a lift to his own team as Byram’s tying goal came 1:08 later. Sure, the Sabres played a strong game to that point but down 1-0 and avoiding being down 2-0 and then being tied up was a massive momentum swing that carried through the rest of the night.
“When we came in after the second we felt confident in how we were playing and I don’t know, there’s always momentum shifts in games, especially in the playoffs,” Byram said. “I think we did a good job of controlling what we can control and obviously a huge win coming into Boston and getting Game 3.”
After watching the Bruins stunt and frustrate the Sabres in Games 1 and 2, seeing the Sabres turn that around on them was fascinating. There’s always added pressure playing at home, but having home ice advantage is a real thing. Then again, the Sabres have been outstanding on the road all year and found ways to twist opponents into knots in their buildings. Buffalo got in passing lanes, got in the faces of Bruins puck carriers with the forecheck, and made it tough for the Bruins to complete passes, never mind get good looks.
Those efforts helped turn the game the other way and led to Tuch’s go-ahead goal 4:03 into the third.
Getting inside on the Bruins was hard for Buffalo in the first two games. Getting in and around Jeremy Swayman proved to be a tough job, but their presence around the net and the crease was much improved on Thursday. The shots don’t have to be tipped to get goals down low, but you have to be there. With Thompson in front occupying a lot of attention, Peyton Krebs was able to maintain possession enough to leave the puck for Tuch so he could take it and let one rip past Swayman.
“I just thought we had good motion inside the zone,” Ruff said. “We won a couple battles. I thought we did a lot better job of moving our feet on the walls, not getting trapped on the walls. Came off the wall, Tage did a great job in front of their goaltender, and that’s pretty well the type of goals we’re going to need to score.”
Making it all stand up was Lyon. He was patient when he had to be and challenged shooters when it was time. His no-nonsense approach to playing a frantic position helps keep him steady. Even the goal he allowed to Tanner Jeannot early in the second period was one where even reading his body language tells you he knew he was there and annoyed it was behind him.
Stopping Arvidsson’s penalty shot and staying cool while the Bruins pressed late in the game, particularly when they had two power plays in the final 10 minutes, helped the Sabres lock it in. Their somewhat unconventional approach to using goaltenders might cause a lot of questions in the playoffs but going from Luukkonen to Lyon and not blinking or causing a crisis is just how they’ve done it all season.
“I think getting in for a few minutes of the last game was really helpful,” Lyon said. “Before that it was probably two weeks since I had played, so just to get the feel of the game, and I think that kind of set me up nicely for today. But I think that we came in with a great mindset and you could feel it in the room of, that we were just going to send it for 60 minutes and kind of that’s all you can do, you know? 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.”
With the funky scheduling of the playoffs, Game 4 isn’t until Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET. That gives both teams plenty of time to reset and recalibrate before a pivotal matchup. A Sabres win would send them home with a series clinching possibility while a Bruins bounce back win would mean this one’s going at least six games. Until then, we’ll see how Ruff adjusts the lineup, if at all, when the team gets back on the ice Saturday for practice.