Sabres Aim for Commanding Lead over Boston

The daily main story on Hockey Hot Stove is presented by Benevolent Bakery and by SoShel. Today: What the Buffalo Sabres need to do to grab a 2-0 lead over the Boston Bruins.

The Buffalo Sabres will wake up on Tuesday with a big opportunity at their doorstep. They were outplayed for the first 50-plus minutes of Game One on Sunday night. Nevertheless, Lindy Ruff’s team found a way to rally for four goals. With a win in Game Two, the Sabres have a chance to grab a commanding two games to zero lead before the venue shifts to Beantown.

For over two and a half periods of Game One at Keybank Center the Bruins played the perfect road game. For much of the night, Boston shut down the Sabres attack for a majority of the night with solid neutral zone play.

The Bruins strong defensive play, coupled with an anemic Sabres power play that went 0-for 4 in the game, had Buffalo on the ropes in the series opener. A comeback win did not seem likely based on the flow of over the first two-and-a-half periods.

Then something dramatic happened. The Sabres flipped the script.

Dramatic turnaround propels Sabres

Buffalo built a sudden swell of momentum. The Sabres stunned the Bruins with four goals in the final eight minutes of the contest in front of a frenzied, jubilant crowd. One the ball got rolling, Boston seemed powerless to stop it.

“This team doesn’t quit, they don’t give up,” Ruff said. “We just said that if we get one I felt we would get the second one. The energy on the beach, the energy in the building after we got the first one, I just felt we’re going to have a good look to get the next one. “

“We were garnering a lot of the offensive zone play, it’s just whether we could break them down and get that one good chance. “

Tage Thompson led the way with two goals, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson notched the go ahead marker and winger Alex Tuch netted the empty insurance marker to seal the win.

Thompson’s first goal opened the flood gates and the Sabres speed overwhelmed the Bruins the rest of the way.

Buffalo needs to start on time in Game Two

For all the bravado surrounding a remarkable comeback, the series is far from over. The Bruins will look to replicate a game plan they executed perfectly for fifty-two minutes on Sunday night.

For the Sabres, the energy gained in the game one heroics will be the team’s blueprint to build on as the puck drops on Game Wwo on Tuesday night in Buffalo. The Sabres need to get their forecheck established faster up ice. They also need cleaner breakouts and entries than they generated for two-plus periods. To grab a 2-0 series lead, Buffalo still needs these adjustments from the outset.

Ruff’s team is very resilient. However, chasing the game entering the final 10 minutes is rarely a formula for winning playoff hockey.

The Sabres gladly took their Game One victory. Neverthless, it’s not the process they need to follow.