Bruins 'played to our identity' in Game 2 victory

TL;DR

The Bruins defeated the Sabres 4-2 in Game 2, tying their playoff series at 1-1. Viktor Arvidsson scored twice, and goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

Key points

Bruins won Game 2 against Sabres 4-2
Series tied 1-1
Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals
Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves
Bruins aim to win at home next

Boston BruinsBuffalo SabresViktor ArvidssonPavel Zacha

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It wasn't quite a Picasso by Boston, in the end.

But the Bruins got the job done on Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, tying their first-round playoff series at 1-1 as the series shifts for Boston.

The Bruins, who let a two-goal lead slip late in Game 1 Sunday, stormed ahead in Game 2 with four goals in the first 41 minutes. Viktor Arvidsson scored two, Pavel Zacha another, and Morgan Geekie added his second of the postseason, silencing the crowd.

"That goal, when you start on the road, is to get one of two," Geekie said. "We gave ourselves a chance to win both, and unfortunately let the first one slip away, and we learned from that. It's huge ... and super important to get one and go back home to play in front of our fans."

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman bounced back for Boston, as well, making 34 saves. He posted two scoreless periods in Game 2, adding to his total of four for the series.

"The series doesn't start until you win one on the road. And that's important for us," Swayman said. "We thought we had a really good chance to finish it out last game, too. So, I think that we fixed a lot of great things and took positives and really stayed in the moment. That's the biggest thing for our group."

Bruins coach Marco Sturm didn't make any lineup changes for Game 2, convinced that his squad was prepared to bounce back as is.

"They played their way. They played to our identity," Sturm said. "Let's put it that way. That was Bruins hockey from start to finish and why we put them away. We played more physical. That's something they wanted to do and get better on our forecheck, but also protecting a little bit more ... and be a bit more aggressive."

It looked like that aggressiveness would lead to an easy win, but Buffalo made things interesting again in the final frame, scoring two pair in the final seven minutes. But this time, Boston smothered the Sabres' attempts at heroics to make the series a best-of-five from here.

Defenseman Bowen Byram got the Sabres on the board with a wrist shot that spoiled Swayman's shutout bid. Then, with the Sabres' net empty, buried a rebounding puck that teammate fired off the post behind Swayman.