BOSTON (AP) — Bowen Byram scored a minute after Boston missed a penalty shot, and Alex Tuch broke a third-period tie to help Buffalo come from behind and beat the Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots in his first start of the postseason and the Sabres, who snapped an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought by winning the Atlantic Division, regained home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday in Boston, with the Bruins needing a win to assure themselves of another home game.
Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves, and Tanner Jeannot scored early in the second period for the Bruins as they opened the scoring for the third straight game.
Boston had a chance to go up 2-0 when Mattias Samuelsson’s stick broke right in front of the Buffalo net, for a turnover that gave Viktor Arvidsson an open lane on the net. Rasmus Dahlin took him down, leading to a penalty shot.
But Arvidsson shot wide.
About a minute later, Byram one-timed a shot past Swayman to tie it. Tuch made it 2-1 when he grabbed a loose puck and fired it past a screened goalie, and Noah Ostlund added an empty-netter with 84 seconds left.
HURRICANES 2, SENATORS 1
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jackson Blake broke a tie late in the second period, Frederik Andersen made 21 saves and Carolina beat Ottawa to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
The top team in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, the Hurricanes can wrap up the series Saturday in Ottawa.
Logan Stankoven also scored for Carolina, and Taylor Hall had two assists.
Drake Batherson scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark stopped 25 shots.
AVALANCHE 4, KINGS 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cale Makar scored the tiebreaking goal, Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves and top-seeded Colorado moved to the brink of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a victory over Los Angeles.
Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen scored on fortunate deflections for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche, who went up 3-0 in the series with another narrow win over the persistent Kings.
Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe scored and Anton Forsberg stopped 19 shots for the Kings. They are a loss away from being eliminated in the first round for the fifth consecutive season.
Game 4 is Sunday in Los Angeles. A loss would end the 20-year career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who is retiring after the season.
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) makes a save against Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Laferriere (14) during the second period of Game 1 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo Jack Dempsey)
