Tage Thompson scored two of the Buffalo Sabres’ four goals in the final eight minutes of the third period in a 4-3 comeback win against the visiting Boston Bruins in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday night.
After the Sabres were held scoreless for 52:02, Thompson scored twice in a span of less than four minutes to level the score at 2.
Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch scored the final two goals and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves for Buffalo, which was appearing in its first playoff game in 15 years.
David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie each had a goal and two assists, Elias Lindholm also scored and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves for Boston. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday in Buffalo.
Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (OT)
Juraj Slafkovsky netted his hat-trick game-winner 1:22 into the postseason’s first overtime as visiting Montreal stunned Tampa Bay in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Josh Anderson scored the other goal for the Canadiens while Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki notched two assists apiece. Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.
The Lightning’s Brandon Hagel scored on the man advantage and at even strength while Darren Raddysh scored on the power play. Guentzel posted three assists and Nikita Kucherov had two. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 15 of 19 shots as Montreal went 3-for-5 on the power play.
Avalanche 2, Kings 1
Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves in his first Stanley Cup playoffs start and Colorado defeated Los Angeles in Game 1 of their series in Denver.
Artturi Lehkonen and Logan O’Connor scored for the Avalanche, who took a shutout into the final minutes of the game.
Artemi Panarin scored the goal for the Kings with 2:22 left. Anton Forsberg, who also started his first playoff contest, stopped 28 shots.
Golden Knights 4, Mammoth 2
Nic Dowd scored the go-ahead goal 7:20 into the third period and Carter Hart made 31 saves as Vegas rallied past Utah in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series in Las Vegas.
Colton Sissons had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin had two assists and Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev also scored goals for the Golden Knights, who improved to 8-0-1 since John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as head coach.
Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund each scored goals for Utah, which was playing its first playoff game in the franchise’s two-season history. Karel Vejmelka finished with 27 saves.
