Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Troy scored his first two career playoff goals in a span of 4 minutes 35 seconds, sparking a four-goal third‑period rally that lifted the Sabres to a 4‑3 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of their first‑round series at KeyBank Center on Sunday.
The comeback erased a 2‑0 deficit with 7:59 left in the third period, and the Sabres held the lead after Mattias Samuelsson’s travel‑ahead goal at 3:24 remaining. Alex Tuch added an empty‑net goal, while Boston’s David Pastrnak scored with 6.2 seconds left to make it 4‑3.
Thompson’s pair gave the Sabres their first playoff win in 15 years, ending a drought that began after the 2010‑11 season. Boston had led 2‑0 after goals from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand early in the third.
The Sabres out‑hit the Bruins 52‑to‑31, with Tuch leading all skaters with 10 hits and Samuelsson close behind with nine. Rookie goaltender Ukko‑Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 of 20 shots, including two breakaway saves on Pastrnak.
Thompson said the win erased eight years of frustration, noting the team had not made the playoffs since 2018. “Eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for this,” he told reporters.
Captain Rasmus Dahl‑lin echoed the sentiment, saying Thompson “showed up and led the team” in a moment that embodied the club’s mantra: “We always talk about how dogs have to be dogs.”
Coach Lindy Ruff called the victory the sweetest of his 2,071 career games, noting it fulfilled a promise he made when he first arrived in Buffalo in 1979: to bring a Stanley Cup to the city.
According to ESPN research, the Sabres became only the second team in NHL playoff history to overcome a multi‑goal deficit in the final eight minutes of regulation to win, joining the 1940 New York Americans.
How did the Sabres overcome the 2‑0 deficit?
The Sabres scored four goals in 6 minutes 46 seconds of the third period, starting with Thompson’s first goal at 7:59 remaining and ending with Tuch’s empty‑net goal after Samuelsson’s go‑ahead marker.
What makes this win historic for Buffalo?
It is the franchise’s first playoff victory since May 2010 and only the second instance in NHL playoff history where a team erased a multi‑goal deficit in the final eight minutes of regulation to win.
What did Lindy Ruff say about the win?
Ruff called it the sweetest victory of his 2,071‑game career, saying it fulfilled a long‑held promise to bring a Stanley Cup to Buffalo.
