‘Not the first time’: Pastrnak’s OT winner keeps Bruins alive vs. Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Extending their series with the Buffalo Sabres, especially on the heels of a horrendous home-ice loss, was always going to take a collective effort for the Boston Bruins. Of course, when you need a season-saving overtime goal, it never hurts to have a superstar player with a proven crunch-time resume and special chemistry with somebody else on the ice.

David Pastrnak, launched by a feed from Hampus Lindholm, got on a breakaway to notch the game-winner 9:14 into overtime, as Boston scored a massive 2-1 Game 5 victory on Tuesday night at KeyBank Arena in Buffalo. If a lot of that sounds familiar, it’s because those same two players hooked up to send Pastrnak in alone for a Game 7 overtime goal that delivered the B’s a first-round win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2024.

Two years later, No. 88’s strike served to ensure this first-round matchup with the Sabres will return to Boston for Game 6.

“We are neighbours, so we always call it the neighbour connection,” Pastrnak said of his quarterback-and-receiver bond with Lindholm. “It seems like any time he has the puck and I have an opening, I have the confidence that he’s going to find me.”

Lindholm definitely knows who to look for when it’s time to counterattack. In this instance, the Bruins’ goal came only after Buffalo — looking to end the series — had an extended run of offensive zone time in the Boston end. In fact, the puck only wound up on Lindholm’s stick because teammate Marat Khusnutdinov knocked it off Peyton Krebs’ blade just before the Sabres winger could hit a streaking Ryan McLeod as he was bolting for the Bruins net. 

Instead, Lindholm grabbed the loose puck and zipped it up to his neighbour, who made no mistake once he was in alone on Alex Lyon.

“I’ve played with Pasta long enough to know he likes to sneak away for those,” Lindholm said. “I saw him start coming in his little loop. He’s pretty special when it comes to those opportunities.”

Bruins coach Marco Sturm agrees.

“There are only a few players who can do that,” he said of Pastrnak’s winner. “What I mean by that is, it’s not the finish, but the way he doesn’t go offside [while pivoting and corralling the puck]. That’s not the first time [he’s done it]. Somehow, he always gets it done. This guy puts a lot of pressure on himself and he wants to be the difference. Today, he was.”

Certainly, Pastrnak’s game-breaking ability was what ultimately tipped the game in the Bruins’ favour. That said, everyone in Black and Gold pulled on the rope in Game 5, including three guys — defenceman Henri Jokiharju and forwards Michael Eyssimont and Alex Steeves — who were playing their first contest of the playoffs.

If the Bruins hadn’t come up with a big effort in this one, it would have been easy to question if there’s something fundamentally wrong with the club. Not only were the B’s facing elimination, but they were also trying to make amends for a Game 4 showing that saw them get waxed 6-1 at home, thanks in large part to a no-show first period where they made mistake after mistake and fell behind 4-0.

For a team that worked so hard to get back in the playoffs after a one-year absence, the idea of going out with another effort like that was unacceptable.

“We weren’t going to stop tonight,” said forward Sean Kuraly. “I think this was one where we looked each other in the eye and said this was going to be one where we played a full 60 minutes, no matter [what].” 

To their credit, the Bruins did indeed hang tough when Buffalo opened the scoring with a power-play marker 3:35 into the game. Given the backdrop — a city ready to celebrate its team’s first playoff series win since 2007 and a power play which hadn’t converted in its past 39 opportunities suddenly converting — it was easy to think the Sabres might be able to leverage that early-game, man-advantage marker into chasing the Bruins out of the building. But Boston dug in and wound up having a very strong opening 20 minutes despite the deficit. When the consistent play carried over to the middle frame, it eventually resulted in Elias Lindholm’s equalizer just before the halfway point of the period.

From there, the Bruins continued to battle for every inch of ice throughout the scheduled 60 minutes and beyond.

“We stepped up in big moments and played with raw emotions,” said Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who blasted his bench after a mercy pull in Game 4. “Guys were selling out their bodies and really understanding every play was important, and I thought that was contagious throughout the whole night.”

Naturally, Swayman once again did his part, looking calm and big all night while turning aside 24 pucks.

“He’s been great in every game,” Sturm said. “Believe it or not, even last game. If it wasn’t for him it would be 10-0 after the first [period]. He’s a big, competitive guy and he showed it again today. Big moments, big games, you want the big guys to show up, he’s one of them and he did it.” 

Now everybody — from the big guys to the foot soldiers — is getting a chance to erase Game 4 from their fans’ memory with a much better performance at TD Garden on Friday night. The Bruins, who had the second-best home record in the league during the regular season, need their first domestic triumph of the post-season to force a Game 7. The key, according to Hampus Lindholm, is to carry over the detail-oriented hockey they’ve played while contesting three very close games — two of which they won — as the visitors in Western New York.

“It’s going to be a different Boston Bruins at home next game,” Lindholm said. “We’re going to keep playing this type of hockey and make it hard on them. They’re going to see a different [team] at home.” 

Yes, it’s hard to imagine the Bruins turning in another performance like they did in Game 4. They’ve been a resilient bunch all year and showed that characteristic once again with their backs against the wall.

“We were disappointed, obviously, last game,” Kuraly acknowledged. “We threw it away, put it behind us, played this one, and now we’ve got another one.”

And, if they can stick with all the good stuff from Game 5, perhaps one more after that.