BOSTON (AP) — Josh Doan had a goal and an assist during Buffalo’s four-goal first-period, and Alex Lyon stopped 21 shots to lead the Sabres to a 6-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Peyton Krebs, Zach Benson and Bowen Byram also scored to help Buffalo open a 4-0 lead against a Boston team that needed a win at home to avoid moving to the brink of elimination. Beck Malenstyn and Alex Tuch scored 84 seconds apart in the third period to make it 6-0 and chase Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.
The Sabres, who won the Atlantic Division to end an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought, can finish off the best-of-seven series in Game 5 on Tuesday night in Buffalo for their first playoff series win since 2007.
Krebs scored 4:17 into the game, Doan’s goal came less than three minutes later and Benson followed two minutes after that. When Byram made it 4-0 just 14:24 into the game, it was Buffalo’s second four-goal period of the series; the Sabres rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit to win 4-3 in Game 1.
AVALANCHE 5, KINGS 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Nicolas Roy and Devon Toews scored in the third period, and top-seeded Colorado swept Los Angeles out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a victory in Game 4.
Cale Makar also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avs ended the 20-year career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who announced his pending retirement in September.
The Slovenian center is the top scorer in franchise history and a two-time Selke Trophy winner, and he was a star on the Kings’ two Stanley Cup championship teams in 2012 and 2014 before spending the past decade as their captain. The Kings crowd repeatedly chanted “Kopi! Kopi!” in the final minutes of the blowout, and he got standing ovations when he came out for his final two shifts.
The Avalanche all greeted Kopitar warmly while he led the postgame handshake line. He then circled at center ice with his arm raised while his teammates banged their sticks on the ice for his final farewell.
With a masterful four-game demonstration of the roster-wide talent on a team ready to win it all, Colorado advanced to face the winner of the heavyweight first-round series between Dallas and Minnesota. Those clubs are tied heading to Game 5 on Tuesday, meaning the Avs will get at least five consecutive days off before the second round, and quite possibly more.
LIGHTNING 3, CANADIENS 2
MONTREAL (AP) — Brandon Hagel scored his NHL playoffs-leading fifth and sixth goals in the third period and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Montreal in Game 4 to tie the series.
After the first three games in the first-round series went to overtime, Tampa Bay overcame a two-goal deficit to end it in regulation.
Hagel gave the Lightning the lead with 4:43 left, deflecting Nikita Kucherov’s shot past Jakub Dobes.
Jake Guentzel had a goal and assist, and Kucherov added two assists on the top line with Hagel. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Tampa.
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