Sabres rally to beat Bruins 3-1,
take 2-1 lead in NHL playoff series
[April 24, 2026]
By JIMMY GOLEN
BOSTON (AP) — Bowen Byram scored a minute after Boston missed a
penalty shot, and Alex Tuch broke a third-period tie to help Buffalo
come from behind and beat the Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night to take a
2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots in his first start of the postseason and
the Sabres, who snapped an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought by
winning the Atlantic Division, regained home-ice advantage in the
best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday in Boston, with the Bruins
needing a win to assure themselves of another home game.
Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves, and Tanner Jeannot scored early in the
second period for the Bruins as they opened the scoring for the
third straight game. But they missed a chance to go up 2-0 when
Viktor Arvidsson's penalty shot went wide.
“Definitely a turning point,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Boston had a chance to go up 2-0 when Mattias Samuelsson’s stick
broke right in front of the Buffalo net, for a turnover that gave
Arvidsson an open lane on the net. Rasmus Dahlin took him down,
leading to a penalty shot.
Arvidsson circled wide and came in slowly but Lyon left him no
opening.
“I try not to overthink the penalty shot too much,” Lyon said. “Kind
of the same situation as the shootout and just try to kind of be in
the moment. That’s when practice comes through. So you've just got
to trust your instincts and lean on those.”
About a minute later, Byram one-timed a shot past Swayman to tie it.
“Yes, it was a big swing. Absolutely,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm
said. “The bench was not the same, let’s put it that way.”
Tuch made it 2-1 when he grabbed a loose puck and fired it past a
screened goalie, and Noah Ostlund added an empty-netter with 1:24
left.
The teams split the first two games in Buffalo, with Boston taking
the lead both times before Buffalo rallied in the last half of the
third period. In Game 1, the Sabres came back to win 4-3, but they
were too far back after a 4-0 deficit in Game 2 and lost 4-2.
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Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrates his goal with
teammates as Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) skates
past during the third period in Game 3 of a first-round NHL hockey
Stanley Cup playoff series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Boston. (AP
Photo/Charles Krupa)
The early struggles doomed Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka
Luukkonen to backup. He won the playoff starting job by closing the
regular season 12-2-1 but was pulled after allowing the fourth goal
early in the third period on Tuesday night.
Lyon went 20-10-4 during the season.
“I think getting in for a few minutes of the last game was really
helpful,” he said. “Before that, it was probably two weeks since I
had played. So just to get the feel of the game, I think that set me
up nicely for today.”
Buffalo continued to struggle on the power play. After failing to
score on the last 22 chances in the regular season, the Sabres have
misfired on their first 13 man advantages in the series, including
four Thursday.
“Our power play let Swayman off the hook,” Ruff said. “But there was
some good stuff there. And both goaltenders made some big saves at
key times.”
Up next
Game 4 is Sunday before the series shifts back to Buffalo for Game 5
on Tuesday night.
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