Sabres crush Bruins 6-1 in Game 4, take 3-1 lead in series
Sabres crush Bruins 6-1 in Game 4, take 3-1 lead in series
Field Level Media, USA TODAYSun, April 26, 2026 at 10:47 PM UTC
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The Buffalo Sabres ripped off a four-goal first period and never looked back en route to a 6-1 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Sunday, April 26.
Peyton Krebs, Josh Doan, Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch all had a goal and an assist, while Zach Benson and Beck Malenstyn also scored for Buffalo. The Sabres takes a 3-1 series lead back home for Game 5 on Tuesday, April 28, after claiming back-to-back victories in Boston.
Krebs netted the opening goal only 4:17 into the first and it was 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the game.
1 / 0NHL physicality: Players fight, deliver big hits
Feb. 28: Referee Cody Beach stops the fight between the Washington Capitals' Connor McMichael and Montreal Canadiens' Kaiden Guhle (21) during the third period at the Bell Centre.
The early flurry was more than enough offense to back goaltender Alex Lyon, who made 23 saves and held a shutout until Boston's lone goal by Sean Kuraly with 40 seconds left in the third.
Boston's Jeremy Swayman allowed six goals on 29 shots before Joonas Korpisalo entered in relief for the final 13:19.
In the midst of falling into a 4-0 deficit in the first period of a playoff game for the first time ever, the Bruins lost Viktor Arvidsson to an upper-body injury after he was hit by Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.
Buffalo had a 19-5 shot advantage and eight high-danger scoring chances in the opening period.
Krebs scored Buffalo's first game-opening goal of the series. A turnover led to Tuch creating the scoring chance, firing a no-look pass to his oncoming winger for a wrister from the slot.
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Just two seconds after Boston killed off a penalty, Doan made it a 2-0 game by deflecting Ryan McLeod's centering pass from the right goal line to the top of the crease at 7:10.
Benson added to the tally only 2:05 later. After picking defenseman Jordan Harris' pocket along the left wing, he drove hard to the net and snuck a backhand shot five-hole on Swayman.
Byram's third goal in three games capped off the four-goal period with 5:36 left. The defenseman took a pass from partner Owen Power down the left side and scored across the grain past a diving Swayman.
Two goals in a span of 84 third-period seconds put an exclamation point on Buffalo's win.
Starting the quick-fire sequence, Jordan Greenway's point shot took deflections off Tyson Kozak and then Malenstyn on its way past Swayman at 5:08. Malenstyn made the ultimate tip from between the circles.
Tuch finalized the Sabres' scoring to make it 6-0 at 6:32, slotting home Tage Thompson's feed from behind the net.
Kuraly scored on the rebound of Andrew Peeke's point shot for the lone Bruins goal, which came short-handed.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sabres crush Bruins 6-1; Boston loses Viktor Arvidsson to injury
Source: “AOL Sports”
