The Boston Bruins came home to TD Garden on Thursday night for Game 3 against the Buffalo Sabres with the series tied 1-1 after two wild games in Buffalo. The first two matchups had already swung on late goals, setting up the first of at least two games in Boston with the pressure now shifting north.
Buffalo won Game 1, 4-3, on Sunday night after Boston had opened a two-goal lead with eight minutes left in regulation, then surrendered four unanswered goals. The Bruins answered on Tuesday night with a 4-2 win in Game 2 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., tying the series and forcing a Game 5.
Through two games, David Pastrnak led both teams with five points for Boston, with one goal and four assists. Morgan Geekie added four points with two goals and two assists. For Buffalo, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch were tied at the top of the playoff scoring table with three points each. Tuch had one goal and two assists, while Thompson had two goals and one assist.
The goaltending numbers told their own story. Jeremy Swayman saved 67 of 72 shots for Boston and allowed five goals through two games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 33 of 40 shots for Buffalo and gave up seven goals. Those totals left little margin for error in a series already defined by late pushes and wasted leads.
That tension is what made Thursday night matter in the present tense, not just as another game on the schedule. The Sabres and Bruins had already shown they could erase deficits quickly, and the next game in Boston was scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET before the series returned to Buffalo for Game 5 on Tuesday, with the start time and network still to be determined. Games 6 and 7 would follow if needed.
For now, the series had arrived at its first sustained stretch in Boston, where the Bruins were looking to turn one comeback win into control and the Sabres were trying to prove the first two games were no fluke.
