Tonight the Sabres start their first playoff run in 15 games, and I couldn’t be more excited. For years and years, this franchise has been miserable, losing year in and year out with our star players leaving and winning elsewhere. It’s been awful for this drought, but this team made magic this season, coming out of no where after the typical bad start, and not only making the playoffs for the first time since 2011, they won the Atlantic Division for a matchup against the #1 wild card Boston Bruins. As I wrote in longer form blog this morning reflecting on it, I couldn’t be more excited!
Unbelievable energy in this arena tonight. Sabretooth came down suspended from the ceiling onto the ice and after the whole arena sang along to the Goo Goo Dolls’s Better Days for the 15 years later rendition of the best playoff into video of all time, anthems, Sandra Jeanneret banging the drum, and the puck dropped on the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Here. We. Go.
The Sabres fed off the energy of the crowd and looked great early, but then gave up a couple concerning chances with the Bruins possessing the puck in the zone for quite a while. With 9:09 left in the first, the Bruins opened the scoring, with the puck coming right to the slot for a wide open Morgan Geekie, who fired it past UPL to give Boston a 1-0 lead. The Sabres outshot the B’s 15-9 in the first, but other than a few nice looks on the power plays, didn’t have many great scoring chances or even lanes to shoot, with some pretty bad officiating and bullshit penalties to go with it. Gotta tie it up in the second.
I still can’t believe I’m here. Never felt like this in a Sabres game. And I’ve been to a fucking lot of them.
Besides the power play that we looked like complete shit in, I thought the Sabres played way better in the second period, generating much more high quality scoring chances, but after a scoreless 20 minutes, still a 1-0 game. In the second, we outshot them 12-4, but still couldn’t score. Josh Norris looks concussed though. We’re a big third period team, let’s get the offense going!
When I walked in, I saw the kid directly in front of me two rows in front of me had a homemade Stanley Cup, and I just dreaded he’d be holding it in my sight line the whole night, but he was great with just lifting it during stoppages, and I just couldn’t resist…
Thought I completely mushed the boys taking that picture, when just 1:08 into the third, the Bruins made it 2-0 with Owen Power out of position, giving Morgan Geekie a great chance that Elias Lindholm scored on the rebound of. Bad. The first half of the third period looked like shit for the Sabres, not generating anything, looking lousy on and off the puck, not connecting tickets, and holy shit did our power play look pathetic. Tage Thompson got the Sabres FINALLY on the board with 7:58 left in regulation on a wraparound that made the building explode again to make it 2-1. Brand new game with 4:16 to go in regulation with Tage getting his second of the games on a beautiful individual effort, stealing the puck and tipping it past Swayman to tie it up. The whole place went completely nuts and brought back the energy we had to start the game. Feeding off that electricity of the city of Buffalo, Jack Quinn set up a beautiful shot by Mattias Samuelsson with 3:24 left to go, giving us our first lead of the game and making the entire arena (and evidently the whole city) erupt. Alex Tuch capped it off with an empty netter, set up by Tage, on breakaway to make it 4-2 with 1:12 left. With 6.2 seconds left, Boston made it 4-3 with Tage Thompson in the box, on a goal by David Pastrnak on the power play right in front of the net, but it was too late at that point to matter. We won the final draw to ice those last six seconds and win Game 1.
FINAL: Sabres 4, Bruins 3
Sabres lead series 1-0
Incredible vibes leaving that arena tonight, with a whole other level of happiness that I haven’t experienced as a Sabres fan since I was in middle school. Holy fuck what a comeback, what a game, and what an absolutely incredible experience. That place was absolutely electric to be in. For 15 years to end with that win. Insanity.
From a hockey perspective, I thought this was a game of waves for the Sabres that made me quite nervous for most of it. The offense couldn’t get anything going for the majority of this game, with no lanes to shoot through. The power play looked absolutely pathetic every time the Bruins had a guy in the box. Overall though I thought we played good, especially in the second period. Very physical game, with the Sabres getting a season high 53 hits, outhitting the Bruins 53-28. We outshot Boston 38-20, and with four goals in the span of just 6:46, became the first team in NHL postseason history to win in regulation time after trailing by two or more goals to zero with eight minutes or fewer remaining in regulation. Absolutely insane.
Let’s keep it rolling at home on Tuesday night and take a 2-0 series lead to Boston.
We’re a fucking wagon. 15 more wins!
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