Arvidsson scores 2 and the Bruins beat the Sabres 4-2 to even first-round series at 1

JOHN WAWROW Wed, April 22, 2026 at 4:13 AM UTC

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1 / 0Bruins Sabres HockeyBoston Bruins left wing Viktor Arvidsson (71) celebrates his goal during the second period in Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes) ()

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Morgan Geekie bounced in a shot from beyond center as part of Boston’s three-goal second-period surge and the Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 to even their first-round playoff series at 1 on Tuesday night.

Viktor Arvidsson scored twice and Pavel Zacha also scored. David Pastrnak had two assists to give him five points in the series and tie Bobby Orr for eighth on the Bruins career playoff list with 92 points.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 32 shots, and this time Boston managed to not blow a multigoal third-period lead.

Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored 1:14 apart to cut Boston's lead to 4-2 with 4:52 remaining in regulation before being stymied by Swayman, who stopped the final eight shots he faced.

The Sabres opened the series with a 4-3 win in which they overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit by scoring four times in the final 7:58 of regulation on Sunday.

“A series doesn’t start until you win one on the road and that’s important for us moving forward,” Swayman said. “The biggest thing for our group is we left the past in the past and understood there was an opportunity tonight and seized it.”

The series shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Thursday night.

Rather than carry over the momentum from Sunday, the Sabres gradually sagged due to spotty goaltending and an anemic power play.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished with 15 saves and was pulled after allowing Arvidsson’s second goal 16 seconds into the third period to put Boston up 4-0. Alex Lyon mopped up and finished stopping all seven shots he faced.

Luukkonen looked shaky on three of the four goals allowed.

Coach Lindy Ruff refused to blame Luukkonen specifically. He called Geekie's goal “lucky,” and added: “This team has been so good about we win together, we lose together. I’m not going to sit here and criticize that goal.”

And yet, Ruff didn't rule out the possibility of going with Lyon in Game 3.

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Arvidsson opened the scoring 4:54 into the second period by beating Buffalo defender Mattias Samuelsson to a loose puck. He then drove in and beat Luukkonen through the legs after the goalie was late in getting his stick down.

Then came Geekie’s goal some 12 minutes later. From just outside the center line, the forward flipped a high backhander at the Buffalo net. Luukkonen came out of his crease in an attempt to glove it, only to have the puck bounce past him.

Geekie smiled when asked if he ever scored a goal like that and said: “No. And I don't think ever will again. Honestly, was just trying to dump it in and got a lucky bounce.”

Luukkonen took the blame on misplaying Geekie's shot.

“It’s a bad bounce. There’s no way around it: It can’t go in. Just kind of made a bad read on it,” he said. “I feel like the biggest thing for me, personally is if there’s a bad bounce, bad goal, you have to stop the bleeding. But wasn’t able to do that tonight.”

After Zacha redirected Pastrnak’s centering pass for a power-play goal with 1:50 left in the second period, Arvidsson scored by driving up the right wing and beating Luukkonen through the legs from 25 feet.

Buffalo’s power play continued to struggle in going 0-of-5 on Tuesday and 0-of-9 in two games. The drought extends into the season, after Buffalo closed 0-for-22 over its final seven games.

Ruff acknowledged the power play's struggles, but otherwise took the loss in stride. He noted that the Sabres were short on playoff experience after winning their first Atlantic Division title and snapping an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought.

“It's playoff hockey. Our guys have experienced very little of it. Now in a matter of few days, they’ve been able to experience two games,” Ruff said. "There’s areas we’re going to have to get better at, but don’t want to see one person doubting that we’re not going to go into Boston and win a hockey game.”

With the city still buzzing from Buffalo’s stunning win in Game 1, Bills quarterback Josh Allen kicked things off by beating the drum to lead the “Let’s go, Buffalo!” chants. The new father, wearing the jersey of Sabres forward and occasional golf partner Alex Tuch, then chugged a can of beer before violently throwing it to the ground to a crescendo of cheers.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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Source: “AOL Sports”