TL;DR
Buffalo's first playoff win in 15 years and Slafkovsky's overtime hat trick framed a weekend that produced 1-0 road leads across the East.
MSM Perspective
ESPN and NHL.com covered each Game 1 individually; the cross-series pattern of home upsets has not been named.
X Perspective
Hockey X is treating Buffalo's 4-3 comeback win — four goals in the final 7:58 — as the round's defining image.
Tuesday brings four NHL Game 2s, with three of the four visiting teams entering with 1-0 leads. Bruins-Sabres at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN from KeyBank Center carries the weekend's signature frame. Buffalo scored four goals in the final 7:58 of regulation to win Game 1, 4-3, ending an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought and delivering the Sabres' first playoff victory since a April 20, 2011 game against Philadelphia — exactly 15 years to the day. [1] Tage Thompson scored twice in 3:42, Mattias Samuelsson broke the tie with 3:24 left, and Alex Tuch sealed the result with an empty-netter. The Sabres were the eighth team in NHL postseason history to rally from a two-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes and win in regulation. [2]
Canadiens-Lightning tips at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 from Benchmark International Arena with Montreal up 1-0. Juraj Slafkovsky scored his third power-play goal of the night 1:22 into overtime for a 4-3 win — the second-youngest hat trick in Canadiens playoff history. [3] Tampa Bay has lost eight of its last nine home playoff games and faces a fourth consecutive first-round exit.
Kings-Avalanche tips at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN from Ball Arena with Colorado up 1-0 after goaltender Scott Wedgewood held off a late Kings push. [2] Edmonton-Anaheim Game 1 ran Monday at 10 p.m. ET; Game 2 follows later in the week. The pattern across the first night of the round: visiting teams pushing the series dynamic back toward the home building under pressure.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos
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