Buffalo 2, Boston 1: Sabres Outlast Bruins In Game One

Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller stopped 38 of 39 shots from Boston. His fantastic effort in net was good enough for the Sabres to hang on for a 2-1 victory over the Bruins in game one of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals last night at HSBC Arena.

Thomas Vanek of the Sabres got the opening goal of the game at 04:52 in the first period. Buffalo got a three on two rush going into the Boston zone. Saber center Derek Roy was rushing down the right side of the ice towards the Boston net. Roy fed a pass back to Vanek, who put a slap shot past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.

This was Rask's first playoff start of his NHL career.

Later in the first period, the game got really interesting. At 15:14 of the period, both Boston and Buffalo served four penalties, with six of the eight penalties being called as two-minute minors for roughing.

The penalties for Boston: Zdeno Chara— served by teammate Shawn Thornton for roughing, two minutes. Milan Lucic got a two-minute roughing penalty twice, totaling four minutes. Chara got called for cross— checking for a two-minute minor.

The penalties for Buffalo: Toni Lydman, Steve Montador, and Raffi Torres each got two-minute minors for roughing. Patrick Kaleta received a misconduct penalty for 10 minutes.

Boston got on the board near the halfway point in the second period. Lydman, the Sabres defenseman, received his second penalty of the game. He got called for cross-checking, giving the Bruins a man-advantage opportunity. Chara took a slap shot from center ice just inside the Buffalo zone. Miller, the Sabres goalie, was able knock away the puck. Boston's Mark Recchi recovered the loose puck near the net and put a wrist shot past Miller for a power-play goal at 09:30 to tie the score at 1-1.

The Sabres responded later in the period at 14:10. Buffalo left wing Tim Kennedy skated into the Boston zone. After trying to cut across, two players from the Bruins were covering him. Kennedy fed a pass to his right to a wide open teammate, Craig Rivet, who put a slap shot past Rask to give Buffalo the lead for good at 2-1.

Boston got the majority of their shots on goal in the second period. Despite out-shooting the Sabres 24-8 in the second, they only managed to get one goal. Boston out-shot Buffalo in the game, 39-32.

The Bruins were fortunate to not allow more than two goals. Boston went on the penalty kill four times in the third period. All-in-all, the Bruins committed 9 penalties, whiles the Sabres committed 7.

In the end, Ryan Miller had one heck of a game. The shots on goal were there for the Bruins, but one goal is not enough if you are facing one of the best goalies in the game. Boston also needs to show more discipline. Committing nine penalties is too much to handle in the playoffs.

Game two is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and will be played in Buffalo.