David Pastrnak scored on a breakaway 9 minutes, 14 seconds into overtime, and the Boston Bruins avoided elimination with a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday night.
Catching Buffalo on a line change, Hampus Lindholm fed a pass up the right boards to find Pastrnak in stride just as he crossed the blue line. Driving in alone on net a step ahead of Buffalo’s Mattias Samuelsson, Pastrnak faked cutting across the front and nearly lost his balance before slipping the puck inside the right post.
The series shifts back to Boston for Game 6 on Thursday night, with Buffalo still seeking to clinch its first playoff series victory since eliminating the New York Rangers in six games of a 2007 second-round series. The Sabres are in the playoffs for only the third time since, and after snapping an NHL record 14-season playoff drought this year.
Elias Lindholm also scored for Boston, which overcame a 1-0 deficit. Jeremy Swayman stopped 25 shots, including foiling Jason Zucker set up in front 3:30 into the extra period.
Rasmus Dahlin scored for Buffalo, and Alex Lyon stopped 27 shots.
Lindholm tied it 9:24 into the second period after his bad-angle shot bounced into the slot. Lindholm got to the loose puck first and, with his back to the net, spun around and fired in a low shot through a crowd.
Dahlin opened the scoring 3:35 with his first playoff goal and Buffalo’s first power-play goal in nearly a month. Driving up the left wing, Zucker’s initial pass attempt was blocked before he recovered the puck and fed Dahlin for a one-timer in the right circle.
The Sabres had gone 0-of-17 with the man advantage this series and entered the playoffs failing to convert 22 straight chances, dating to a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on March 31.
The Bruins played without second-line forward Viktor Arvidsson, who was hurt in the first period of Game 4 on Sunday.
Wild 4, Stars 2 — Matt Boldy scored the tiebreaking power-play goal in the final minute of the second period, after having one taken away late in the first, and Minnesota beat Dallas for a 3-2 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.
Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal with two minutes left and had two assists, and Mats Zuccarello scored in his return from a three-game absence with an upper-body injury for the Wild. Michael McCarron also had a third-period goal.
The Wild go home for Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to advance to the second round for the first time since 2015. They have lost their last nine playoff series, including to Dallas in 2016 and 2023.
Jason Robertson had a goal with 3:21 left — after also scoring goals in each of the first four games — and assisted on Miro Heiskanen’s one-timer on a power play for the Stars, who made the Western Conference final each of the past three seasons.
Wild rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt had 20 saves, 11 in the third period.
Boldy, who had two goals in Game 1 and the overtime winner in Game 4 on a deflection Saturday, scored on a shot from the top of the circle to the left of goalie Jake Oettinger for a 2-1 lead with 32 seconds left in the second period.
Oettinger stopped 24 shots, including a sprawling save before the end of the second period.
There were only 13 seconds left in the first period when Boldy knocked the puck through on a power play. Dallas won its challenge for goalie interference, with replay showing Boldy made contact on his second-effort shot.
That was the third time in two games Boldy put a puck in the net that wasn’t a goal, but he still has four goals this postseason after 42 in the regular season. In Game 4, he had a goal waved off in regulation because of goalie interference and another discounted in overtime because he made a kicking motion at the puck.
Zuccarello hadn’t played since having three assists in the Wild’s 6-1 win to open the series, when he took an elbow to the head.
He had a quick impact in his return, scoring 3:51 into the game after Kaprizov gathered the rebound of his initial up-close shot off Oettinger then slid the puck over the top of the crease to Zuccarello on the other side of net.
The Stars tied the score five minutes later when Heiskanen shot a one-timer from about 50 feet through the center of the ice.