4 takeaways from the Boston Bruins devastating Game 1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres

The Boston Bruins had the Buffalo Sabres right where they wanted them. The Bruins held a 2-0 lead in the third period after Elias Lindholm doubled the lead just over a minute into the final period. However, the Black and Gold gave away all the momentum with self-inflicted mistakes and couldn't stop the onslaught.

Buffalo scored four unanswered goals in seven minutes and held off the Bruins for a series tone-setting win in the opening game. Now, somehow, the Bruins must pick up the pieces and move on to Game 2, something easier said than done. Here are four takeaways from Buffalo's Game 1 victory.

Bruins survived the first period

The first 10 minutes of the game were key for the Bruins to survive with the charge that was in the stands with the Sabres and fans, and Sturm's comments fresh in their minds. Buffalo came out and threw their weight around to send a message, but Boston survived the onslaught in the beginning. Heck, they even scored the first goal in the series.

Just past the midway point of the period, Morgan Geekie slapped a puck that was on edge from the slot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. After finishing the season on a hot streak in terms of scoring after a 17-game drought, it was nice to see Geekie score the first goal. At the end of the first period and the Bruins on the power play, he got the puck at the side of the net and, with an open net, wasn't able to get a clean shot off to double the Black and Gold's lead. What a miss that turned out to be.

Bruins unable to build on lead in the second period

Buffalo outplayed the Bruins in the second period and outshot them, 13-4. The only reason they carried a 1-0 lead into the third period was because of Jeremy Swayman. However, the Bruins had a couple of chances to build on the lead and couldn't. Mainly David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak had two breakaways in the period and failed to convert on either one. The first one was a tough pass that sent him in, and he was never able to control it on time. The second one, Luukkonen, stopped Pastrnak with a save. I know it's the playoffs and chances are limited, but if you're the Bruins, you need your purest goal-scorer to bury one of those.

Tage Thompson's takeover in the third period of the Sabres' four-goal explosion

For 52 minutes, the Bruins lived on the edge without having clean zone exits before it finally burned them. Charlie McAvoy had a chance to clear the puck out of the defensive zone and never got the puck out. Instead, it ended up behind the net, and Tage Thompson was able to use his long reach to circle the net on Swayman and stuff home the first Buffalo goal of the series.

Then, four minutes later, Thompson tied the game when he got the puck out of the corner, and his shot deflected off a Bruins stick and beat Swayman to tie the game. Fifty-two seconds later, Mattias Samuelsson collected the puck at the left circle and shot to beat Swayman for the game-winning goal. All because the Bruins sat on a 2-0 lead.

This is a loss that will be difficult to overcome

The Bruins were 7:58 away from stealing Game 1, but the four-goal onslaught was something that could be the decisive turning point in the series, even though it's just Game 1. Games like this are tough to come back from. You don't outshot 38-20 and expect to win the game 2-0. Just a complete meltdown of epic proportions.

Buffalo turned up the pressure, and the Bruins were not able to answer. This loss is on the Bruins and their inability to make plays over the final eight minutes, mainly getting pucks out of their zone and winning puck battles in their own end. Boston had the KeyBank Center quiet and nervous. They were booing their own team. Game 2 is a must-win as the Bruins going down 2-0 would be extremely difficult to come back from. This is about as gut-wrenching a loss as there can be.

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