The Buffalo Sabres hit the road for Game 3 and had their backs against the wall in a sense. Even though the series was tied at 1, they were coming off a disappointing performance and needed players to step up to regain the momentum.
They got just that as they played their best game of the series and had some unlikely heroes emerge to help secure the road win and take a 2-1 series lead. When looking back at Game 3, four players in particular stood out and helped the Sabres in a big way.
Alex Lyon
Alex Lyon had arguably the best performance of the night and delivered exactly what the Buffalo Sabres needed in Game 3. They were coming off a loss at home and heading on the road while facing the possibility of being down 2-1.
For most of the season, Lyon had rotated somewhat evenly with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net, but down the stretch, the Sabres made it clear that Luukkonen was going to be the starter. Lyon's starts were sporatic and when he did play, he struggled to the point that in his last start, he allowed three goals on five shots and lasted less than six minutes.
In Game 3, it was a completely different story as he allowed only one goal on 25 shots and made probably the play of the game when he stopped a penalty shot by the Bruins.
According to Natural Stat Trick, based on the shots he did take, he had an Expected Goals Against of 2.50, which just highlights how good he was for a Sabres team that needed a dominant performance in net.
Noah Ostlund
After Lyon, the biggest storyline from this game was the performance of Noah Ostlund, who was probably the Sabres' best forward in this game, as he was back in the lineup with Josh Norris out due to an injury. The former first-round pick hadn't played since March 25th due to an injury, so to return after a month off and play in his first career playoff game and deliver the game he did, really highlights how impressive it was.
It started in the second period as Ostlund was able to find Bowen Byram for the Sabres' first goal of the game. He did a great job carrying the puck into the zone and being patient until a shot developed for Byram.
Then in the third period, Ostlund scored the empty net goal to secure the win on a play that was all hustle as he beat the Bruins down the ice to avoid an icing. He was able to fight off a couple of defenders to get the puck in the net for the goal.
When considering the game he had, after being out for as long as he did, in his first career playoff game on top of moving back to center after spending most of the season at the wing, it was a remarkable performance by Noah Ostlund.
Alex Tuch
One of the players who has probably been the most consistent across all three games of this series has been Alex Tuch. The goal in the third period to break the tie helped extend his point streak and he now has four points in the three games in this series.
While the goal was crucial for the win, Tuch does a lot of other things that help the Sabres be successful, particularly on the penalty kill. The Sabres had to kill off two penalties late in the third to hold onto the lead, and Tuch was a big reason for that.
He finished the game with nearly four minutes of penalty kill time, the third most on the team behind only Mattias Samuelsson and Ryan McLeod. On top of the penalty kill, Tuch is still leading the team in hits with 16 as he had another three in this game.
Owen Power
One player who may not have filled the stat sheet but flew under-the-radar with a solid performance was defenseman Owen Power. He did get an assist on the goal by Bowen Byram but really had a solid performance, both on the penalty kill and in 5v5 situations.
In Game 3, Power finished third among defensemen in time on ice with 19:59 with 3:08 of that on the penalty kill. When Power was on the ice for the penalty kill, he helped hold the Bruins to only two shot attempts.
What was even more impressive was in 5v5 as the Sabres had nine scoring chances compared to only two scoring chances for the Bruins when Power was on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It was an impressive performance, and if the Sabres can get more of this from him moving forward, they have to like their chances of advancing in the playoffs.
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