Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrates his goal with teammates as Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) skates past during the third period in Game 3 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By The Canadian Press

Sabres rally to beat Bruins 3-1, take 2-1 lead in NHL playoff series

Apr 23, 2026 | 7:40 PM

BOSTON (AP) — Bowen Byram scored a minute after Boston missed a penalty shot, and Alex Tuch broke a third-period tie to help Buffalo come from behind and beat the Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots in his first start of the postseason and the Sabres, who snapped an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought by winning the Atlantic Division, regained home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday in Boston, with the Bruins needing a win to assure themselves of another home game.

Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves, and Tanner Jeannot scored early in the second period for the Bruins as they opened the scoring for the third straight game.

Boston had a chance to go up 2-0 when Mattias Samuelsson’s stick broke right in front of the Buffalo net, for a turnover that gave Viktor Arvidsson an open lane on the net. Rasmus Dahlin took him down, leading to a penalty shot.

But Arvidsson shot wide.

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About a minute later, Byram one-timed a shot past Swayman to tie it. Tuch made it 2-1 when he grabbed a loose puck and fired it past a screened goalie, and Noah Ostlund added an empty-netter with 84 seconds left.

The teams split the first two games in Buffalo, with Boston taking the lead both times before Buffalo rallied in the last half of the third period. In Game 1, the Sabres came back to win 4-3, but they were too far back after a 4-0 deficit in Game 2 and lost 4-2.

The early struggles doomed Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to backup. He won the playoff starting job by closing the regular season 12-2-1 but was pulled after allowing the fourth goal early in the third period on Tuesday night.

Lyon went 20-10-4 during the season.

Buffalo continued to struggle on the power play. After failing to score on their last 22 chances in the regular season, the Sabres have misfired on their first 13 man advantages in the series, including four on Thursday night.

Up next

Game 4 is Sunday before the series shifts back to Buffalo for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

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Sabres rally to beat Bruins 3-1, take 2-1 lead in NHL playoff series

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