Sabres vs. Bruins Game 6: Key takeaways as Buffalo advances to Round 2

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff bracketStanley Cup tiersNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterNHL Playoffs The Sabres have won a playoff series for the first time since 2007. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Share articleBOSTON — The Buffalo Sabres move on. The Sabres won their first playoff series since 2007 by dispatching the Boston Bruins in six games. The Sabres claimed a 4-1 Game 6 win on Friday at TD Garden by pumping two first-period pucks past Jeremy Swayman and adding a Zach Benson backbreaker in the third period. Josh Norris iced the game with an empty net goal. The Sabres will play either the Montreal Canadiens or Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 2. Game 7 between the Canadiens and Lightning is on Sunday. The Sabres, up 2-1 after 40 minutes, scored the decisive goal after Josh Doan outhustled David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy for a puck deep in the Bruins’ end. After Doan won the puck, he found an unmarked Benson in front. Just like in Game 4, the Bruins folded in the first period in Game 6. This time, it was a case of the Sabres making plays instead of the Bruins giving up the puck. On the first goal, Jonathan Aspirot had Tage Thompson marked. Same for McAvoy on Alex Tuch. But Rasmus Dahlin has the talent to be a difference-making offensive catalyst. By stepping up into the offensive zone and receiving Thompson’s pass, Dahlin separated from Pavel Zacha. Dahlin then blew through Aspirot’s stick check to create a two-on-one down low. McAvoy, who was covering Tuch, had no choice but to engage Dahlin. This left Tuch open at the far post. On Buffalo’s second goal, Thompson (6-foot-6) and Tuch (6-foot-4) set a double screen on Swayman. The goalie had no shot at picking up Mattias Samuelsson’s release from the point. Meanwhile, Alex Lyon made a game-changing save on Casey Mittelstadt’s partial breakaway when the Sabres held a 1-0 lead halfway through the first. Doan made the play of the game in the third period, out-skating two Bruins to a loose puck in the offensive zone. He won the battle for the puck and then made a perfect pass to Benson while taking a high hit from McAvoy. The pass made it through, and Benson finished the play with a goal to put the Sabres up 3-1 in the third period. Doan has been a dream acquisition for the Sabres because of the energy he consistently brings. Midway through the third period in Game 6, Doan was leading the Sabres with seven shot attempts and three individual high-danger chances. He also had two hits and two takeaways at that point. He does a bit of everything for the Sabres and made the biggest play of their season on Friday night. Lyon stopped Mittelstadt on a clean break midway through the first period to keep the score 1-0. And then after the Sabres went up 2-0, Lyon made another point-blank stop on Elias Lindholm in front of the net. That allowed the Sabres to keep the 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. The Bruins eventually got on the board, but Lyon came up big early in the third period, too. The Bruins outshot the Sabres 10-2 in the first half of the third period, but the Sabres ended up getting the period’s first goal because Lyon was locked in. The series changed when Lyon took over Buffalo’s crease in Game 3. And he saved some of his best saves for Game 6. Tuch was a difference-maker for the Sabres. He scored the first goal and was also Buffalo’s most impactful two-way forward. Through two periods, Tuch had already logged 14:57 of ice time, and the Sabres were outscoring the Bruins 2-0 during his five-on-five minutes. He came into the game leading the Sabres with six points. He added to that total with his goal. The pending unrestricted free agent has already shown up in a big way for the Sabres this postseason. As he said ahead of Game 6, Tuch has been craving a chance to play in these types of games. And he showed up. “I love it,” Tuch said. “This is what I think of when I think of hockey. There’s nothing better, honestly. I think the whole world knows it, too. Everyone is giving everything they have, sacrificing their bodies, minds, everything. You’re just going out there and givin’ ’er.” Logan Stanley came down with an illness this week. He took part in warmups but couldn’t play. Michael Kesselring, who hadn’t played yet in the playoffs and had played only two games since March 10, took his spot in the lineup. Kesselring grew up in Nashua, N.H., and played college hockey at Northeastern, so making his playoff debut in Boston was a big moment for him. But he didn’t end up getting a ton of ice time. Stanley’s absence forced the Sabres to lean on their top four defensemen for a heavy dose of minutes in this game. By the end of the second period, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Bowen Byram and Owen Power were all on pace for more than 21 minutes of ice time. Conor Timmins and Kesselring rotated in with those guys to keep them fresh, but the Sabres relied on their best players to eat a ton of minutes and that worked to their advantage. Viktor Arvidsson may have played his final game as a Bruin. The No. 2 right wing is in the final year of his contract. Arvidsson, injured in Game 4, skated on his own before Game 6. Whether he could have played in Game 7 is unknown. Arvidsson, 32, was a very good fit, especially at five-on-five. He should be well-regarded in unrestricted free agency, given the shallow depth of available forwards. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms