Marco Sturm famously got the attention of Sabres fans, media, and players alike by saying just prior to the postseason that the Bruins “were going to go after them” over the course of the seven-game playoff series.
And it looked like they were ready to live up to that by building up a 2-0 lead at the start of the third period in Game 1 at the KeyBank Center and playing so well that the B’s had a nervous Sabres fan base booing at their players at points in the game.
But the Bruins took their foot off the gas after building a 2-0 lead on a handful of strong shifts, then fell into a prevent defense, laying off the forecheck, dropping into a neutral zone trap, and playing conservative hockey to protect their advantage. Instead, the Black and Gold had a disastrous final eight minutes, surrendering four goals in an eventual 4-3 loss on Sunday night.
“The frustrating thing is that for almost 55 minutes we played a perfect game. And then we made two mistakes to let them tie up the game,” said Sturm to NESN following the game. “It’s a tough one. But we did a lot of good things, so we’ve just got to get some rest and get ready for Game 2.
“We had a good forecheck, we protected the middle of the ice pretty good, and we didn’t really give them odd-man rushes. They’re a rush team and they didn’t really get that going. I felt like we made them stop a lot of times and they got frustrated. It’s just really unfortunate.”
With all due respect to the B’s bench boss, it really felt like the aggressive and fairly effective B’s forecheck went away as soon as Elias Lindholm scored the insurance goal early in the third period, and the Bruins stopped trying to make any kind of plays in the offensive zone at that point as well. Perhaps it’s human nature to go into a little bit of a defensive shell once a team is protecting a third-period lead in a playoff game, but it was pretty unmistakable that’s what the Bruins were doing for much of a third period where they were losing the territorial battle.
The conservative approach in the third period for the B’s, along with a superstar two-goal performance from Tage Thompson, completely changed the complexion of the game and made it essentially Buffalo's to take from the Bruins, with the way both teams played contributing to that eventually going down.
ABSOLUTE MAYHEM IN BUFFALO!!! 😱
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 20, 2026
TAGE THOMPSON AND THE SABRES TAKE OVER LATE IN THE FINAL FRAME AND WIN THEIR FIRST PLAYOFF GAME IN 15 YEARS! 👏
(via @msgnetworks) pic.twitter.com/U531njKZE6
“We hadn’t had any goals against for the first 40 minutes, so when that first one hits, things change a little bit. Maybe subconsciously [we got off our game a little bit]. They’re a good team that’s going to take advantage of any mistakes and they did a good job of that,” said Morgan Geekie. “It’s a seven-game series and everybody is going to say you can’t lose the series in one game. But we’ve put ourselves behind the 8-ball a little bit after this one. We just need to get back to playing our 200-foot game.”
It will be an understatement for the Bruins to feel like this game was a massive missed opportunity, as they were positioned for a playoff win despite being outshot 38-20 by the Sabres, and wasted a very strong goaltending effort from Jeremy Swayman as he made 34 saves while holding the Sabres at bay for 50-plus minutes of the game.
The other part of the loss was a really tough night for Boston’s second line as they were victimized for three of the four Sabres goals late in the third period, and Charlie McAvoy was on the ice for two of them as well. Turnovers, broken sticks, and a huge momentum swing all conspired to turn a solid opening B’s win into a gut-punch loss against the Sabres, and it will be interesting to see how the Bruins respond in Game 2, with Buffalo having plenty to build off from Sunday’s victory.
They will certainly need their wingers to be better on the walls in both zones, consistently better on their defensive-zone faceoffs, and curb any inclination to pull back when attacking a Buffalo team that is susceptible defensively.
The positive for the B’s is that their top line was excellent throughout the game, and Morgan Geekie finished with his first career multi-point playoff game, even as he couldn’t pull the trigger on a wide-open net at the end of the first period. Elias Lindholm clearly stepped his game up a level from a so-so second half of the regular season with a big third-period goal, and David Pastrnak had a pair of assists along with a team-high seven shot attempts, including a pair of breakaway opportunities.
Boston’s best forwards got a lot of quality offensive looks against Buffalo, which bodes well for them moving forward in the series.
“Obviously a tough outcome. We got the second goal early in the third period, but we didn’t get the job done. So that is unfortunate,” said Pastrnak. “We’ve got to flip things around for those 10 minutes and do a better job in Game 2.
“Emotions are so high and low in the playoffs, so we’ve got to focus on the will and to believe and keep things on an even level. We just need to focus on moving on to Game 2 and trying to steal one here.”
The Bruins can take some solace that they were in a position to win Game 1 with perhaps a different approach, and certainly if the B’s had been better at getting pucks out of their zone when it mattered most late in the game. But the Game 1 loss feels like it might eventually be a game that Boston ends up regretting as a lost opportunity that could cost them a shot at upsetting the Sabres over the course of the first-round series.