Bruins even series, hang on for 4-2 win vs. Sabres

We now have a playoff series — Adams Division-style.

The Bruins evened their first round series with the Buffalo Sabres with a 4-2 victory at KeyBank Center on Tuesday night.

The B’s raced out to a 4-0 lead by early in the third period on a pair of goals from Viktor Arvidsson, a power-play goal by Pavel Zacha and a blooper-reel goal from Morgan Geekie. With the game out of hand, tempers flared and the Sabres used it to make a game of it late.

But this time, the B’s were able to hang on for the victory.

Still basking in the Sabres’ comeback win in Game 1, the people were ready to get the party started again. Not that the Buffalo fans needed it but Bills QB Josh Allen provided a great crowd pop to get it going when he was introduced to bang the drum just before puck drop.

And the Sabres responded with a physical opening few minutes. It started right off the bat when Elias Lindholm finished a check on Rasmus Dahlin and Dahlin just grabbed Lindholm and they were both sent off.

That didn’t stop the rough-housing. The Sabres crashed the net a couple of times, just barely avoiding goalie interference calls on Jeremy Swayman but causing a fracas both times. There were no penalties on the first one but on the second one, the Sabres actually got a power play on it when Nikita Zadorov was tagged with a double-minor while Beck Malenstyn only got two minutes.

The B’s actually got the best chance on the Sabre PP, a Mark Kastelic short-handed partial break that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped. And then he stopped a promising bid by Viktor Arvidsson, who was serving one of the Zadorov minors. He had to chase down a lead pass when he stepped out of the box and when he caught up to it, the puck was too deep in the zone. He had to attack the net from the side and Luukkonen was able to stop his far-side reach attempt.

The B’s were given two power plays back-to-back, with a three-second overlap. But on the advantage, the B’s appeared to be searching for the perfect play and only landed one shot on net on both advantages, a good shot form the slot by Fraser Minten that Luukkonen stopped.

The B’s pressured late in the first but when the play was going the other way, David Pastrnak took a bad stick foul with 30 seconds left in the period.

But the B’s were able to kill off the half minute and then the balance of it at the start of the second.

Then at 4:54, the B’s took the first lead for the second game in a row. Jonathan Aspirot won a puck battle at the Boston blue line and then sent an aerial pass through the neutral zone. Arvidsson beat Mattias Samuelsson in the race and then slipped a backhander through Lukkonen’s pads for the 1-0 lead.

The B’s got their third power play when Bowen Byam shot the puck out of the rink, but they were again too reticent to shoot the puck and another chance went by the wayside.

The Sabres got their third PP shortly after that when Tanner Jeannot was called for interference in the offensive zone. Buffalo had more chances on this advantage but the Sabres again came up empty.

Then at 16:29, the B’s got the biggest gift they’ll ever get. The Sabres were starting to hem the B’s in their zone for several shifts. Geekie got the puck out to center ice, making the red line before flipping a backhander in so he could make a change. It took a funny bounce and beat Luukkonen for a major gaffe to give the B’s a 2-0 lead.

The B’s would get a fourth power play when Tage Thompson interfered with James Hagens on a backdoor play with 2:05 left in the second, and this time they didn’t let the opportunity pass them by. Just 15 seconds into the advantage, Pastrnak fed Zacha in the slot and Zacha redirected it through Luukkonen for the 3-0 advantage.

With the B’s holding a three-goal bulge and outshooting the home 18-16, the fans booed their team off the ice when horn sounded to end the period.

The fans’ were back on their side to start the third period, but not for long. The B’s stretched it to 4-0 just 16 seconds in when they broke out on a 2-on-1. Arvidsson, again sent away by Aspirot, kept it for himself and beat Luukkonen to the far side with a snip. That was enough for Lindy Ruff to see and he yanked Luukkonen in favor of Alex Lyon.

The Sabres had a chance to get some life when Charlie McAvoy took a minor when he hit Malenstyn low, taking a tripping minor and setting off a brouhaha. Kastelic ended up dropping the gloves with Logan Stanley and pushing the big man down on his backside.

There were more fisticuffs after Zach Benson jabbed Swayman. Zadorov knocked down Benson down and then another conflagration ensued, with Andrew Peeke ending up on top of Benson. Both Thompson and Zadorov would be given 10-minute misconducts while Jeannot seemed to be challenging every Sabre between the benches. Peeke was also given a penalty.

Bowen Byram ended Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left in third period.

The Sabres then made it a two-goal game with 4:52 left in regulation with Lyon pulled for the extra skater to re-ignite the crowd. With that, coach Marco Sturm used his timeout.

Kastelic had a chance to push it back to a three-goal lead when he had an open shot on the empty net but he hit the post.

But the B’s would not blow it this time.