The Boston Bruins staved off elimination Tuesday night, edging the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in overtime in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The deciding moment came 9:14 into the extra period, when David Pastrnak capitalized on a perfectly timed rush. Catching Buffalo during a line change, Hampus Lindholm sent a long pass up ice that found Pastrnak in stride at the blue line. Skating in alone, he outmaneuvered a defender and slipped the puck past goaltender Alex Lyon to seal the win and extend Boston’s season.
Boston had trailed early after Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring just over three minutes into the first period on a power play—the Sabres’ first conversion of the series after a prolonged drought with the man advantage. The Bruins responded in the second period when Elias Lindholm tracked down a loose puck and fired it through traffic to even the score.
Goaltender Jeremy Swayman was instrumental in the comeback, finishing with 25 saves, including several key stops in overtime that kept Buffalo from ending the series. Lyon turned aside 27 shots in the loss.
The victory sends the series back to Boston for Game 6 on Friday, with the Sabres still chasing their first playoff series win since 2007.
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