After Elias Lindholm scored in the early part of the third period of Game 1, the Boston Bruins had a 2-0 lead over the Buffalo Sabres. This put the Bruins in a good spot to pull off a much-needed victory to kick off the series, but unfortunately for them, they could not shut the door. At the 12:02 mark of the third period, Tage Thompson scored to cut the Bruins' lead to 2-1. Then, Thompson tied the game up at 15:44 in the third period, and Mattias Samuelsson quickly gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead less than a minute later. Alex Tuch then scored an empty-netter to give the Sabres a 4-2 lead at the 18:48 mark of the third period before David Pastrnak scored a meaningless goal for the Bruins with just eight seconds left. This loss was certainly a frustrating one for the Bruins and just the latest playoff collapse from the Black and Gold. However, the Bruins managed to make some unwanted history this time around. According to OptaSTATS [https://x.com/OptaSTATS/status/2046054054128706047], the Sabres became the first team in NHL playoff history to win a game in regulation after being down by two or more goals to zero with eight minutes or less left in the third period. The Bruins starting their postseason with a historical collapse is certainly not what they were hoping to do. Now, they will need to bounce back and look to pull off a win in Game 2 vs. the Sabres.
