When I sat down to pick who I thought would win each of the first playoff series this year, I picked the Buffalo Sabres to dump the Bruins in this series, primarily because I felt that Ryan Miller was the better goaltender. That assessment may have been flawed, as Tuuka Rask has shown no signs that the playoff pressure is getting to him, has stymied the Sabres all series long, and has his club within a single win of advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Rask made 35 saves on Wednesday night, including an incredible toe save on Jason Pominville late in the 3rd that helped force overtime. Ryan Miller was great, as well, and finished the game with 36 saves on the night, with his best coming in overtime, as he robbed Miroslav Satan of a golden opportunity to end it, stretching out his glove to just get a piece of Satan’s rebound attempt and keep the game alive for Buffalo. Satan would get his revenge later, however, scoring a beauty of a winner nearly 8 minutes into the second overtime on the powerplay, with Buffalo serving a too many men on the ice penalty.
The struggle for Buffalo hasn’t been getting the lead, it’s been preserving it, as they again took a lead into the 3rd period, but were unable to hang on for the win. Tim Kennedy scored just over 2 minutes into the game to put the Sabres up 1-0, and Steve Montador scored early in the 2nd to give Buffalo a 2 goal cushion heading into the 3rd.
In the 3rd, though, it was all Boston, as David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron both scored less than 5 minutes apart to even the game and set up a wild overtime finish. Krejci’s goal was a result of some hard work on the powerplay by the Bruins, as Bergeron kicked out a rebound to him in the slot, where he would bury it. Bergeron got one of his own four and a half minutes later, firing a no-look shot on net from in tight that Miller should have saved, but probably didn’t expect to be coming.
Boston is in great shape to pull off the upset in a series that has been one of the most tightyly played and physically demanding series of these playoffs. Big hits all around on both sides, , not surprising, considering that nearly every game of this series has featured at least one highligh reel collision. Buffalo will have to hope they can win at home tomorrow night and then win on the road for the first time this postseason to force a Game 7 at home in Buffalo.