'That was Bruins hockey': Boston bounces back to tie series vs. Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Boston Bruins got a victory and slayed some demons all at once. And while their series with the Buffalo Sabres is technically split 1-1, you can understand why the Bruins might be heading home feeling as though they’ve cracked some kind of code against their favoured opponents.

Forty-eight hours after watching a late-game lead evaporate versus the Sabres, Boston locked down a 4-2 victory Tuesday in Game 2 to draw even in their Atlantic Division battle. For the second straight outing, Buffalo’s offence came alive only as time was ticking away. The Sabres halved a 4-0 Boston advantage with two goals 1:14 apart, the second coming with 4:42 still on the clock in a building suddenly full of belief.

But rather than buckle under the extended six-on-five Sabres pressure — to say nothing of the fresh scar tissue from letting Game 1 slip — the B’s buckled down, backed by another strong performance by goalie Jeremy Swayman.

“They played to our identity,” coach Marco Sturm said of his charges. “That was Bruins hockey, right from the start to the finish.” 

Sure, the conclusion was once again a little hairy. But after getting this one over the line, Boston is understandably pleased with its body of work in Buffalo.

“Two great games,” said defenceman Nikita Zadorov. “I felt like we only played a bad five minutes last game. I thought we were controlling [that game] and today was great. We didn’t give them anything, pretty much, five-on-five.”

Yes, the only gifting that occurred on this night was when Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen misplayed a harmless flip-in by Morgan Geekie from centre ice with 3:31 to go in the second frame. It was a goal that triggered audible gasps and, unfortunately for Luukkonen, promises to stick to him for a long time.

Asked if he’d ever scored on a play like that before, Geekie offered a flat “no” before adding, “I don’t think I ever will again.”

A play that jarring can skew the perception of the game. The reality, though, is Boston had several quality chances on Luukkonen in the first frame that the Finnish stopper turned aside. Undeterred, the Bruins kept coming and really took over the contest in the middle frame, netting three goals while outshooting the home team 11-8.

“It’s a little bit of a lucky goal, but I think we outplayed them today,” said Boston centre Pavel Zacha.

Few Bruins were more motivated to do just that than Zacha and his linemates, who were publicly chided by their coach following a Game 1 showing where Zacha and wingers Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt all finished minus-3. The response in Game 2? Arvidsson keyed the offence with a pair of strikes, while Zacha contributed a vital power-play goal.

“I called those guys out for a reason,” Sturm said. “They just needed a poke, that’s all.”

It was Arvidsson who got the party started, opening the scoring when he darted behind two Sabres and received a high, flip pass from blue-liner Jonathan Aspirot. The Swede swept in on Luukkonen and snuck a backhander through the goalie’s legs 4:54 into the second. 

Then, with the Buffalo crowd still fighting off the nausea caused by Geekie’s unthinkable goal just 1:41 earlier, Zacha worked his way into the slot and re-directed home a feed from David Pastrnak to make it 3-0 Boston late in the middle frame.

When Arvidsson came charging out of the gate and flung a far-side shot that chased Luukkonen just 16 seconds in the third, it felt like the final blow in a Boston win.

However, after a chippy third period that resulted in a steady stream of bodies to both boxes, Buffalo got some life from a Bowen Byram goal with just over six minutes left in the third, then really picked up steam when Peyton Krebs banged home a loose puck to put the Sabres one shot away from being one shot away.

At that point, Swayman signalled to the bench that perhaps a timeout was in order and the Bruins did indeed take a moment to gather themselves. When play resumed, the B’s felt prepared for the onslaught.

“Obviously they have a bunch of skill up there, they’re going to push at the end,” Zadorov said of the Sabres. “There’s no give-up in anybody’s game in this league. It’s playoff hockey. 

“I feel like in those situations, you want to lean on your veteran players. Go out there, have a good shift, have a calm shift, get the puck out, protect the middle, nothing against. I feel like we made a couple mistakes in Game 1 when we left open players in the slot. That was [the] idea to not give it away today, we protected, we did a good job.”

Few players were more up to the task than Arvidsson, who would have finished with a hatty had a centre-ice attempt on Buffalo’s empty net been just a hair more on target.

“He was winning a lot of puck battles, he was fast, even the breakaway [to open the scoring], he beat his guy one-on-one,” Zacha said of his linemate.

Of course, the most important Bruins player was the guy who stood between the pipes. On balance, Swayman wasn’t quite as busy as he was in Game 1, but he stood tall when it mattered most and — after holding the high-powered Sabres off the scoresheet for over 52 minutes in Game 1 and nearly 54 in Game 2 — he’s glimpsing the form everyone knew would be required if there’s to be a Boston upset in the making.

“His calmness,” Zadorov said when asked what stood out about Swayman through two outings. “It’s super important to see from the goalie, his confidence is great. I don’t want to give a lot of compliments to goalies — I don’t want to jinx it — but he’s been awesome.”

Swayman and the Bruins have shown they can put the hex on Buffalo’s vaunted attack for huge chunks at a time. If that continues when the series switches venues, Boston could soon be in the driver’s seat.