BUFFALO – Lack of experience? No way, Sabres center Tage Thompson responded after scoring two late goals to ignite one of the most memorable comebacks in franchise history.
The Sabres, Thompson noted, played plenty of games that prepared them for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Sunday’s wild 4-3 victory, a game in which they scored three goals in less than five minutes to erase a late 2-0 deficit against Boston Bruins.
As Game 1 of the opening-round series approached, the Sabres’ lack of postseason experience became a notable talking point.
They won 50 games, registered 109 points and captured the Atlantic Division title to earn their first trip to the playoffs since 2011.
Still, 12 players in Sunday’s lineup, including Thompson, had never played a postseason game. How would they respond?
Well, pretty darn well. Every moment in their careers – all those trying seasons – readied them for the challenge they’re finally enjoying.
“I think eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for something like this,” Thompson said. “I think any time you go eight years not making playoffs and then it’s finally here, the last thing you want is regret. There’s just a heightened feeling of hunger. You just don’t want to let this opportunity slip.”
Thompson made the most of his hard-earned opportunity, scoring 12:02 into the third period and again at 15:44 and whipping the capacity of 19,070 fans in a frenzy.
When defenseman Mattias Samuelsson scored from the top of the left circle at 16:36, the Sabres’ third goal in a span of 4:34, it became bedlam in KeyBank Center.
“It’s probably the loudest I’ve ever heard in my life,” Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen said. “It’s just one of those things … you know that it’s going to be loud, you know it’s going to be electric, but you never can kind of imagine how loud it’s going to get.”
After winger Alex Tuch added an empty-net goal to put the Sabres up 4-2, David Pastrnak scored a power-play goal at 19:52.
Following the game, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he told his players, “You want experience? You got it now.”
“I mean, what an experience,” he said. “If you’re going to say this was my first playoff game, you’ve got a great story to tell.”
The game marked the second time in franchise history the Sabres overcame a third-period deficit of two or more goals in the playoffs and won.
The other contest? The “May Day” game, a 6-5 overtime win against the Bruins on April 24, 1993 that clinched a four-game sweep.
For Ruff, who watched his team respond to challenges all season, Sunday’s effort to begin the best-of-seven series hardly surprised him.
“This team doesn’t quit,” he said. “They don’t give up.”
Early on, the Sabres clearly had some jitters.
“We have a lot of guys that haven’t been in the playoffs, so we just kind of let them play their game,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “And after the first period, I think all the guys kind of settled in and played our game.”
While they settled in and outshot the Bruins – the final tally was 37-20 – they couldn’t get anything by goalie Jeremy Swayman for more than 50 minutes.
Morgan Geekie scored 10:52 into the game before Elias Lindholm made it 2-0 1:08 into the third period.
In the second intermission, having faced deficits throughout the season and come out on top, Thompson said the Sabres “did a good job just staying pretty even keel.”
“Calm and collected,” Dahlin said of the mood in the dressing room after 40 minutes. “We trusted our plan all game.”
After falling behind two goals, Thompson took over late, scoring both goals after skating out from behind the net.
“You could feel the energy building,” Samuelsson said. “I think, as a group, we thought once we crack them, we could roll from there.”
Thompson said his goals materialized by doing exactly what we wanted to do all night.
“Put pucks behind them, pound their D, make it a tough night on them and just hit the repeat button on that,” he said. “You go back for enough pucks, it’s pretty exhausting. Create loose pucks and get chances from there.”
To Thompson, who scored 40 goals in the regular season, the Sabres needed “to make a statement and set our standard.” His dynamic effort led the way.
“We always talk about, ‘Dogs have to be dogs,’ and today he showed up and led the team,” Dahlin said. “That was special. We’re gonna need him more.”
Luukkonen, who also made his postseason debut, quietly enjoyed a strong night, stopping two Pastrnak breakaways to keep the deficit at 1-0.
“He gave us a chance to get back in the game.” Ruff said. “They didn’t have a lot of opportunities, but we gave them a couple big ones, when you talk about the breakaways.”
