The Sabres had a couple days to think about Tuesday’s overtime loss, a missed opportunity to end the first-round series on home ice. Keeping with the “one game at a time” mantra that has guided them all season, they brushed off that disappointing finish, opted against a Friday morning skate and just showed up at the Garden ready to handle business.
“We said before this game, we knew we were gonna win this game regardless of what happened,” Tage Thompson said.
Their effort backed that up, especially on the series-clinching play early in the third period. Buffalo led 2-1 on first-period goals from Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson and was facing heavy pressure in its own zone, but goalie Alex Lyon continued his dominant series with some key stops. When a Boston turnover leaked back toward the Bruins’ end, Buffalo’s dogs went hunting.
Josh Doan – his hustle a staple of this team’s success all year – outraced Bruins stars David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy to the loose puck, then dished a backhand pass to Zach Benson all alone in the slot. As Doan absorbed a McAvoy elbow to the head in the corner, Benson snapped a shot past goalie Jeremy Swayman to pad the Sabres’ lead.
“Benny calls for it, and [I] see him over my shoulder,” Doan recalled. “Obviously, there’s a chance you’re getting hit pretty hard there, but you’ve got to find a way to get a puck through there to Benny, and that’s a big-time goal from him there.”
