Buffalo Sabres gain momentum with game four blowout
Photo courtesy of Brenna Cumming
The Buffalo Sabres delivered a statement win over the Boston Bruins, cruising to a 6-1 victory and taking a commanding 3-1 playoff series lead as the city dreams of its first second-round appearance since 2007.
By the time you read this article, the city of Buffalo may be up in flames. Now the question is whether it will be lit in rage or celebration. From the looks of this past Sunday’s game, I am leaning towards celebration.
On Apr. 26, the Buffalo Sabres dominated the Boston Bruins with a 6-1 win, propelling them to a comfortable and promising 3-1 series lead in the first round of the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs. As this article is being written, the Sabres are set to play on home ice on Apr. 28. If they were to win, they would move on to the second round, for the first time since 2007!
Before I get ahead of myself, or even choke on my words, let us break down the almost clean sweep from Sunday. The Sabres set the tone immediately, rattling off six goals almost immediately. Center Peyton Krebs scored 4:17 minutes into the game, followed by goals from wingers Josh Doan and Zach Benson, and defenseman Bowen Byram just minutes later.
To put just how devastatingly beautiful this 4-0 deficit was for the Bruins, the last time Boston allowed four goals in the first period was against the Hartford Whalers in the 1991 postseason. Tragic for Boston, magical for Buffalo.
The cherry on top of the almost-shutout for goaltender Alex Lyon was the two goals scored in the third period from left-wing Beck Malenstyn and forward Alex Tuch. Speaking of Lyon, he stopped 21 shots and allowed just one lowly shorthanded goal from Boston forward Sean Kuraly in the final minute to save the Bruins from their first shutout of the season.
Buffalo’s showing had one of the NHL’s best goaltenders shaking in between the pipes. Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots before being replaced by Joonas Korpisalo at the 46-minute mark. Obviously, the Bruins were at a loss for words.
Bruins head coach Marco Sturm spoke on the loss, saying, “I am embarrassed, and we all should be… And we’re all (upset), and we will talk about it, but then we have to move on. As far as I know, you have to win four games to move on. They’ve got three, so that means we still have a chance… And I can cry about it, but I also have to push my guys for the next game and make sure our intensity is going to be there.”
On the other side of things, Buffalo’s Byram was singing a different tune, saying, “What it was when we really started playing well was we've been a really good road team… I think that's just our depth. I think we're a hard team to match up against. We don't just have one line that contributes, it's all four, and all six (defensemen), so when we're at our best I think that's what gives teams fits.”
It is clear that this Sabres team is a completely different beast. The one thing they have to do to keep themselves going is to generate offensive opportunities earlier on, rather than when they are either trailing or in the third period. If they can capitalize on that, I have no doubt in my mind that they can make it to the Eastern Conference Finals or maybe even the Stanley Cup Finals.
Do I think the Bruins will go down without a fight? No. However, the Sabres just have the fire that has been out for so long, and now that it is lit, I am not sure anyone could put it out.