David Pastrnak scores 9:14 into OT and Bruins avoid elimination with 2-1 win over Sabres

“He’s always lurking,” Lyon said of Pastrnak, whom the goalie robbed on several chances. “Obviously, he’s one of the best players in the league,” Lyon added of a player who reached the 100-point mark for a fourth straight season. “It’s just one play at the end from a really good player. That’s usually how these things go. And now it’s just incumbent on us to move forward.”

The Sabres were caught up ice, and the Bruins jumped into making a line change, with Pastrnak coming off the bench as the turnover occurred.

Accepting Lindholm’s pass in stride as he crossed Buffalo’s blue line, Pastrnak drove in on net a step ahead of Buffalo’s Mattias Samuelsson. He faked cutting across the front and nearly lost his balance before slipping the puck inside the right post.

“He always gets it done. And what a nice finish from him,” coach Marco Sturm said of the 12th-year player. “I’m just very happy because this guy puts a lot of pressure on himself and he wants to be the difference. And today he was.”

The goal was the 41st of Pastrnak’s playoff career, and second in overtime. He scored Boston’s last overtime goal, also coming in an elimination game, to seal the Bruins’ 2-1 win over Toronto in Game 7 of their 2024 first-round series.

Lindholm tied it 9:24 into the second period after his bad-angle shot bounced into the slot. Lindholm got to the loose puck first and, with his back to the net, spun around and fired in a low shot through a crowd.

Dahlin opened the scoring at 3:35 with his first playoff goal, and Buffalo’s first power-play goal in nearly a month. Driving up the left wing, Zucker’s initial pass attempt was blocked before recovering the puck and feeding Dahlin for a one-timer in the right circle.

The Sabres had gone 0-of-17 with the man advantage this series, and entered the playoffs failing to convert 22 straight chances, dating to a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on March 31.

The Bruins played without second-line forward Viktor Arvidsson, who was hurt in the first period of Game 4.

Buffalo lost rookie forward Noah Ostlund to a lower-body injury in the first period.

Coach Lindy Ruff didn’t reveal what the injury was, but said, “it doesn’t look good.” Ostlund had just returned to the lineup from an upper-body injury in Game 3, in which he had a goal and assist.

The Bruins have won back-to-back outings in Buffalo after squandering a 2-0 lead in the final 7:58 of a 4-3 loss in Game 1. The Sabres won both outings in Buffalo, and were coming off a 6-1 win.

“We’re in a good spot. We should be ready for the next one,” Dahlin said. “It’s a tight game and stuff happens, so we’re ready for going to Boston.”