By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter/X @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins were back in the Garden today, hosting the Buffalo Sabres in game four of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There was a ton on the line in this game, as a win would tie the series up at two apiece, and a loss would give Buffalo a 3-1 series lead, heading back to home ice for game five.
The Bruins knew what was at stake today. After a flat game three on home ice, where they fell to the Sabres 3-1, they needed to start with a jolt. Things didn’t go as expected. Let’s break it down.
Terrible Start
Similarly to game three, both the Bruins and TD Garden just had no life to start the fourth game of the series. There were two lineup swaps today, with Lukas Reichel in for James Hagens and Jordan Harris in for Mason Lohrei. Jeremy Swayman, who’s been tremendous thus far, got the start. However, it wouldn’t take long for Buffalo to find their footing.
After Buffalo tallied their first, the wheels completely fell off for Boston, and it almost looked as though everything they’d built through the 82-game season went out the window. Sloppy passes, the inability to breakout of their own end, and the inability to set up and sustain offensive zone pressure. One goal for Buffalo quickly turned into two, then three, then four, and they were all due to a similar trend of mistakes: failed breakouts.
From Bad to Worse… Somehow?
The issues that plagued the Bruins in the opening frame were extremely prominent. Not only couldn’t they get out of their own zone without creating a prime scoring chance for Buffalo, but on the rare occasion that they were able to get even a lick of offensive zone pressure, Buffalo just forced them to the outside or blocked their shots. The Bruins got one more shot on goal in the first 20 than Buffalo got in actual goals. For a team already fighting an uphill battle, it was simply not good enough.
The Bruins’ continued the trend of completely abysmal play, with the same mistakes as they started the game with, and the blows kept coming. Viktor Arvidsson left the ice just over halfway through the first and didn’t return for the second, before officially being ruled out.
Things took a slight shift when Nikita Zadorov lined up Jack Quinn along the boards. Despite several good chances (and a ton of passed-on opportunities at the same time), the Bruins couldn’t crack Lyon.
Failed Resurgence
The Bruins gained a little momentum. A big hit, some solid scoring chances, and sustained zone pressure. It was still 4-0, but all you needed was one goal. If you beat Lyon once, it could spark something with over a period left to play. The Bruins were able to break Lyon’s shutout — after allowing two more Sabres goals and getting Swayman pulled.
After coming back for the final 20 minutes, things were somehow more flat than when they started (could be in large part due to the flatness of the Garden, which is more than understandable). The three goals in the third period, which put the score at 6-1, would prove to be the final. A lot of scrapping in the final three minutes, and a five-minute major and game misconduct for Nikita Zadorov that could absolutely lead to more discipline ahead of game five.
Reflection
The leaders of this team — McAvoy, Pastrnak, Elias and Hampus Lindholm, and Geekie — were made available to the media following the conclusion of Marco Sturm’s press conference. None of them held back on the embarrassment and disappointment that they felt after the embarrassing game they provided fans.
When asked how to explain the Bruins’ inability to compete off the jump, Sturm responded simply: “I can’t. I really can’t.” He went on to add that they “could feel it a little bit in game three, for no reason, definitely today. If you’re a Boston Bruin, playing at home, you should be very excited, I think, going into a playoff game. We didn’t.”
“We have such a good home ice advantage with our fans, and to come out in the last couple and not take advantage is tough. Not much more to say, just frustrating… We’re going back on the road, and we played well in Buffalo, so we’re just trying to get back to that,” Morgan Geekie said about dropping both home games despite being a dominant home team through the regular season.
When asked what the leaders of this team, including Marco Sturm, need to do to pull out of being down 3-1, Hampus Lindholm responded with, “First of all, try to learn from this game. It’s a series. (Look at) what we can do to improve for the next game. Especially if the lead is there. Just go out there, try to enjoy it and play that ‘Bruins hockey.’ I’m confident we can win some games… we start with one and go from there.”
Both McAvoy and Pastrnak had a more aggravated outlook on the loss than Geekie and Lindholm. Pastrnak commented, “Wasted opportunity. Unacceptable. We expect better from ourselves. We are better than that. Can’t show up like this.” McAvoy had a similar takeaway to that of Pastrnak’s, stating, “We dug ourselves a hole that we weren’t going to get out of.”
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