BOSTON (AP) — Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson scored in the first period, Zach Benson added another early in the third and the Sabres beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Friday night in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2007.
Josh Norris added an empty-netter. Alex Lyon finished with 25 saves.
The 4-2 series victory is the latest milestone for Buffalo, which saw the end of its 14-year playoff drought by capturing its first Atlantic Division title. The 2007 season was also the last time the Sabres advanced to the second round. They lost in the conference finals that year.
“It's one step in the right direction. That's it,” Tuch said.
Buffalo will play the winner of the Montreal-Tampa Bay series in the second round. That series will go to seven games after the Lightning's 1-0 overtime win Friday night in Montreal.
“I think Part A is getting to the playoffs. Part B is trying to have success once you get there,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We talked about what a challenge it was going to be to try to take out a good team. And Boston's a good team. ... I thought our guys dug in and gave us a heck of a game tonight.”
David Pastrnak scored the lone goal for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman made 22 stops.
“Buffalo, there's a reason they won the division,” Pastrnak said. "A lot of skill and speed that's over there. Their (defense) is very active. So, yeah, they were better."
Tempers flared with 1:31 to play after Benson tripped Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy responded with a slash at Benson. Both were sent to the penalty box.
It ends a feisty series comeback for the Bruins after earning a playoff berth in their first season under coach Marco Sturm. Boston has lost its last six home playoff games.
Trailing 2-1 in the third, the Bruins picked up their attack and had something working in the Sabres’ zone. But Josh Doan poked the puck away to start a break. He was pursued by Pastrnak and McAvoy toward the corner, when Doan flipped it back to a wide-open Zach Benson, who beat Swayman.
The Sabres’ speed dominated in the early going.
That changed 1:54 into the second period when a Buffalo turnover turned into a 2-on-1 break between Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. Zacha passed to Pastrnak on the left side, and he fired it in from the faceoff circle to get the Bruins within 2-1. It marked his third goal in the series.
It was part of a second period that saw an increase in physical play that was mostly allowed by the referees. It included a more than nine-minute stretch without a stoppage of play.
The Sabres needed just 3:25 into the first period to open the scoring when Tuch guided in a touch pass in front of the net by Rasmus Dahlin.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
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