punched their ticket to the playoffs<\/a> for the first time in 15 years, we wondered how the magical story of their regular season would translate in the playoffs. Historically, first-year playoff teams rarely go the distance. It usually takes a few runs in a row for a core to get it right: Just ask the reigning champion Panthers. <\/p>\nOften, we watch these promising yet green teams thrive off adrenaline for a game or two before fizzling out in the first round. It’s considered a rite of passage; a stepping stone; nothing at all to be ashamed of. <\/p>\n
That typical trajectory didn’t quite align with these Sabres to begin with. This team didn’t just squeak into the playoffs; it claimed the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic Division. While many of Buffalo’s core players are experiencing their first Stanley Cup playoffs, they’ve got plenty of big-game experience, including the Olympics for Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. <\/p>\n
These Sabres haven’t been perfect in their first-round matchup against the Bruins, but they did exactly what they’ve done all season: They’ve quickly brushed off mistakes and missed chances and embarked on the next opportunity. They’ve gotta figure out a way to break through on the power play; 0-for-16 just isn’t going to cut it in the second round. <\/p>\n
“We came out ready to go today for sure, just credit to our group and our will, the preparation. Guys blocked shots tonight, we killed great, made smart puck decisions,” goaltender Alex Lyon said. “I think we’re still getting better at situational hockey, so that game was a good learning experience for us to hone in on our puck management. They pushed back in the second, it was a good learning experience for us.”<\/p>\n
You also wonder how the goaltending will shake out the rest of the way: Is this officially Lyon’s net? He had a solid Game 4, ending with a .958 save percentage after stopping 23 of 24 shots. If Lyon starts struggling, will Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen be able to shake off his rough Game 2 performance and return to form?<\/p>\n
We’ve still got some questions, just like we have questions about every playoff team as the first round rages on. Despite these questions, the Sabres have sharpened up and gained more confidence throughout this series. <\/p>\n
The Game 3 and Game 4 wins featured a 9-0 goal-scoring run that accurately reflects how they’ve completely taken over the series’ momentum heading into Game 5. Sean Kuraly may have crashed the party to get the Bruins on the board late in Game 4, but the game was long gone by then.<\/p>\n
Validation is hard to come by in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but Buffalo’s Game 4, first-period explosion was like a wink from the Hockey Gods. The Bruins made the mistakes, but the Sabres masterfully capitalized on them. <\/p>\n
“I think we’re at our best when we’re on our toes, making their d-men make mistakes, and I think we did that right off the hop,” Peyton Krebs said. “They felt it and we continued to put the pressure on. We capitalized on opportunities tonight and made the most of it.”<\/p>\n
Postseason newcomers often get their fair share of bright spots: Solid periods, emerging goal-scorers, and emerging role-players. Then we see the inevitable errors that remind us the team isn’t quite there yet. These Sabres are straying from that narrative as this series rolls on. They followed up their 4-0 first period with zero goals allowed in the second, and two quick goals in the third to defend and build on their lead.<\/p>\n
As the Sabres head back to Buffalo with a chance to close this series out Tuesday, it’s clear that this team isn’t a fluke, nor is it a typical first-year playoff core. This is a resilient, mature hockey team in control of its own narrative. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON \u2014 Before we give the Sabres their due flowers, let’s not get it twisted: The Bruins deserved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5119],"tags":[5,2409,231,5281,4,2410],"class_list":{"0":"post-560599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nashville-predators","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nashville","10":"tag-nashville-predators","11":"tag-nashvillepredators","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-predators"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116475148622262714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}