Well I prepared a full series preview prior to puck drop of Game 1, but it was deleted from the memory of my blog drafts, so unfortunately won’t be able to replicate everything, but I will mention some thoughts I had pre series, and my thoughts so far in the first 2 games.

Let’s start with the good, the bad, and the ugly, all of which were apparent in Game 1.
The Bruins got off to quite a good start in Buffalo in Game 1. I though they weathered the storm very well in the first 10 minutes, something I thought was very important with how crazy the in arena environment was, with it being the first playoff game in Buffalo in 14 years. The Bruins got the first tally from Morgan Geekie from the slot, which seemed to take a little air out of the building which was super important. Unfortunately, Geekie had a 2nd glorious chance with a wide open net, but opted for a predetermined pass and they weren’t able to capitalize. I thought Buffalo made a great push in 2nd period and Jeremy Swayman showed why the Bruins front office had to cave and pay him the big bucks. He is one of the few true big game goalies in today’s NHL. A player that clearly elevates his game when the games matter more. He was frustrating the Sabres and the Bruins were in control of their destiny entering the 3rd. Elias Lindholm got an early 3rd period tally and with Swayman’s great play it seemed the Bruins were going to be able to seal it, the only thing that could go wrong is if the Sabres can gain a lot of momentum off a big goal. Well, that’s exactly what happened, when Tage Thompson wrapped one in from behind the net to get the Sabres on the board and get Key Bank Center rocking once again. It wasn’t long before Thompson added another goal to tie the game and full pandemonium erupted. The Bruins elected not to call a timeout, and it was a costly decision as less than a minute later Mattias Samuelsson walked down the slot on a catch and shoot game winner past Swayman. Bruins couldn’t recover late and the Sabres took Game 1, in which the Bruins had a great chance to pull out.

The recipe for success was there, but I thought the Sabres played the better game. They were more physical, faster to pucks, more zone time, and credit to them more patience in a game where goals weren’t coming easy to either team throughout the game. The Bruins got up 2 and proceeded to play very preventative, simply not the correct move in the playoff and it bit them. They needed more aggressiveness, more mucking it up, more physicality, drag Buffalo into the fight a little more, but they became too reliant on Swayman’s great play, and unfortunately paid the price in the end with a loss.

Game 2 was a different story. The Bruins and Sabres played a tight checking, physical first period, and Swayman was back on his game yet again. About 5 minutes into the 2nd period, Viktor Arvidsson tracked down a high lob pass from Jonathan Aspirot and backhanded a shot by UPL. A great goal for the Bruins, but might’ve been a sign of things to come for UPL who seemed to miss a relatively simple stop on this one. Arvidsson was pretty well blocked off from cutting back to the middle and getting to his forehand, making the backhand the only real option, yet it was fumbled by Luukkonen. And speaking of fumbles by Luukkonen, Morgan Geekie following a long shift in the D-zone, threw a high lob backhand into the Sabres zone, about 5 feet out from UPL it took a crazy bounce, and snuck past UPL into the bottom corner. Talk about sucking the air out of the building, that goal really hurt the Sabres and the fans in the arena. The Bruins really started to take full control of the game with the 2 goal lead instead of becoming a shell like Game 1, and they even added a third goal with a sweet shot pass from Pastrnak to Pavel Zacha in the high slot late in the 3rd. Just 16 seconds into the 3rd period Arvidsson added his second goal of the night before the game became chaos with penalties. The Sabres did get 2 back late in the 3rd and the Bruins did elect to call timeout, thanks to Swayman and Marco Sturm’s likeminded call out. The Bruins finished the game with strong and closed out a huge Game 2 win on the road.

The Bruins are very good on home ice, and it was massive for the team to return to the TD Garden having split games on the road. The fans will be more into it, the Bruins will have some confidence coming home and now the pressure is on the Sabres to find a way to get on Bruins home ice. I think the Bruins are getting good contributions up and down the lineup, and it was a great bounce back game for the 2nd line in Game 2. Pasta continues to get a lot of attention, but has remained productive, and the “Cub Line” on Khustidinov, Minten and Hagens has been excellent so far through two games. Hagens has been pretty impactful while not showing up on the scoresheet yet. His speed, forecheck and ability to create quick hit offense has kept the Sabres on the heels. I liked the Bruins mucking it up against the Sabres in the 3rd period of Game 2. I think that fits the Bruins style far more than it fits the Sabres, and I would expect the Bruins to keep that intensity and physicality while gaining some momentum from the TD Garden crowd. Should be a good one on Thursday night in Boston!