The Buffalo Sabres were back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and in their first game back, they accomplished something never before seen in the NHL. They would be the first team ever to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the final eight minutes and win in regulation.
While the record, according to OptaStats, may be very specific, it also shows just how improbable the outcome of the game was. The Sabres, for most of the game, struggled to get anything going in the offensive zone due to the impressive performance by Jeremy Swayman in net for the Boston Bruins.
One of the reasons was that the Sabres struggled to get bodies in front of the net and pressure Swayman in those high-danger areas. In Game 1, Swayman faced 37 shots, and 26 of them were either long-distance or mid-distance shots, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It only took one goal, and everything seemed to change with Tage Thompson delivering that key play, but it was what happened before that which was equally important. The Sabres found a different gear late in the third with their forecheck and were winning the battle for the puck.
Once that started happening, Thompson was able to do the rest with two straight goals to tie it before Mattias Samuelsson gave the Sabres the lead for good.
Buffalo Sabres must maintain momentum in Game 2
In the playoffs, these series are long, and momentum swings happen over the course of a game and the series as a whole. For the Sabres, they can't sit back and need to be ready for a motivated Bruins' team on Tuesday night.
For the Bruins, their goal at the start of the series was to win at least one in Buffalo and try to steal that home-ice advantage. They thought they were going to do that in Game 1, but they can still accomplish what they set out to do in the second game of this series.
However, for the Sabres they have put serious doubt in the mind of Boston as they have shown no lead is safe. These types of moments can snowball in the playoffs, but they have to capitalize on them with a win in Game 2.
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