For the first time since 2007, the Buffalo Sabres are into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and while it was a team effort, there were four players who, in particular, stood out with their performance against the Boston Bruins.
The Sabres entered the series as the higher seed and were able to get home-ice advantage because of it. However, after splitting the first two games with the Bruins, they had lost that advantage and some of the momentum heading to Boston.
Even being on the road, it didn't matter for the Sabres as they would go on to win all three of the road games over the final four games to clinch the series. When looking at the series as a whole, these are four players in particular who helped the Sabres get past the Bruins and onto the next round.
Alex Tuch
In the first series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Alex Tuch was clearly one of the best players for the Buffalo Sabres. He made an impact both in 5v5 situations but also on the penalty kill.
He would finish the series leading the Sabres in goals (4) and tied with Tage Thompson for the team lead in points (7) and second on the team in hits (21). Tuch in 5v5 situations was on the ice for six goals by the Sabres and was the only player who appeared in four or more of the games in the series to not be on the ice for a goal, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It wasn't only his impact in 5v5 situations, as he was a key part of the Sabres' penalty kill that allowed only two power play goals with a penalty kill percentage of 87.5%. He had over 13 minutes of penalty kill ice time and was just one of the better all-around forwards in this series.
Alex Tuch has waited five seasons to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he certainly is making the most of his trip back to the playoffs.
Alex Lyon
The Sabres began this series with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net, but after struggling in Game 2, the team replaced him with Alex Lyon early in the third period. From that point, Lyon was locked in and has been one of the top goalies in the playoffs.
In five games, four starts, Lyon went 3-1 while allowing only five goals and had a save percentage of .955. According to Natural Stat Trick, Lyon has the second-best goals saved above average at 5.06, behind only Carolina Hurricanes' goalie Frederik Andersen.
The move to put Lyon into the lineup seemed to completely flip the series in favor of Buffalo, as he would win all three road games the Sabres had in this series. It was a big momentum shift, and the Sabres should continue to lean on the veteran moving forward.
Bowen Byram
Bowen Byram is one of the few players on the roster who has won a Stanley Cup, and he certainly is playing like he knows what it takes to get back there. He began the series playing as well as anyone on the team, as he had five points in the first four games with a +/- of +7.
It was the goals in particular that stood out during this series, as he had only 11 during the regular season, but went three straight games with a goal from Game 2 through Game 4. He finished second on the team in the category, behind only Tuch.
The blueline collectively was great for the Buffalo Sabres but Byram's performance in particular stood out among this group.
Beck Malenstyn
The final player is one who flew under-the-radar a bit, but what he brings to this team is one of the reasons the Sabres are moving on to the next round. Malenstyn finished the series with only one goal and one assist, but was a key part of a fourth line that frustrated the Bruins almost the entire series.
Malenstyn finished the series leading the Sabres in hits with 22, but was also on the ice for the second-fewest scoring chances against at 18 among players who played all six games, according to Natural Stat Trick.
In addition to what Malenstyn is able to do on the fourth line, he is also a big part of the Sabres' penalty kill on that second unit. He finished with the third-most minutes among the forwards, and the Bruins only scored one power-play goal and had 13 scoring chances when Malenstyn was on the ice.
The Sabres couldn't have gotten past the Sabres if it wasn't a collective team effort but these four players certainly stood out with how they played over the six games against the Boston Bruins.
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