Sabres Host Game 1 Wednesday After Six-Game Bruins Win — Buffalo Sabres Tickets
The Buffalo Sabres move into Round 2 on Wednesday, and buffalo sabres tickets now point to Game 1 at home after a six-game win over the Boston Bruins. Buffalo gets a fresh series after surviving a first round that exposed a power play still searching for cleaner execution.
Buffalo’s Power Play
Buffalo converted 1 of 24 power-play chances against Boston, a 4.2 per cent rate that was tied for 865th out of 897 teams with 20 or more opportunities in a playoff series since 1978. The Sabres also went 0 for 22 on the power play over their final seven regular-season games, so the issue carried directly from the regular season into the series.
Rasmus Dahlin did score Buffalo’s lone power-play goal in Game 5, but that was the exception in a series where the Sabres kept coming up short with the extra skater. Josh Doan’s goal in Game 4 came two seconds after a too-many-men penalty expired, which left the first-round numbers with little margin for error.
Lindy Ruff’s Reset
Lindy Ruff wants the group to treat the next round like a clean slate. “I look at it right now as everybody’s power play going into round two is just wipe it clean and start again,” he said Sunday. “Stay with the process and something will go.”
Dahlin was more blunt about the finish. “I don’t think it’s a concern, but we definitely have to get better,” he said. “We need a couple more goals. To be able to win series down the stretch, you need a good power play. We’re aware of it, and we’re working on it.”
Boston Series Carryover
The Bruins series still gave Buffalo enough to move on. The Sabres finished Game 6 on Friday in Boston and advanced after a first-round matchup that included 24 power-play chances, which ranked fourth in the round, and 45 minutes, 58 seconds on the man advantage.
That volume did not translate cleanly, but Buffalo’s five-on-five game did. The Sabres’ 15 goals in five-on-five situations rank third among playoff teams, and their penalty-killing unit ranks sixth after allowing two goals on 17 chances. Buffalo is also in its first playoff appearance in 15 years, with 11 players carrying past postseason experience into the next round.
Tage Thompson said the reset matters now that the first series is over: “I think the great thing is now we’re through the first series, and round two, it’s a whole new season.” For the Sabres, Wednesday is the next test of that idea, with home ice and a second-round opener putting the focus back on execution rather than survival.
