By: Chad Jones | Follow me on Twitter/X @ShutUpChadJones
In Marco Sturm’s first regular season as head coach of the Boston Bruins, the club was terrific at home. Throughout the year, Boston was tremendous when it came to defending TD Garden’s ice and sending the Bruins faithful home happy.
Boston posted a record of 29-11-1 at the Garden during the regular season. That was tied for the most home wins in the NHL this year, as only the Carolina Hurricanes were able to end the campaign with 29 wins on home ice.
Unfortunately for the Bruins and their fans, their regular season success at TD Garden did not translate to the postseason. In three playoff home games against the Buffalo Sabres, the visitors completely dictated play.
Boston was ahead on home ice for less than eight total minutes between the three games. After Tanner Jeannot potted a goal early in the second period of game 3, the Sabres would outscore the Bruins 13-2 at TD Garden the rest of the way.
A massive problem for Boston was getting off the slow starts and allowing Buffalo to grab hold of the momentum and never relinquish their grasp. In both games 4 and 6, the Sabres potted goals less than five minutes into the contest and would never give up the lead.
The most embarrassing performance this series for the Bruins at TD Garden was undoubtedly game 4. With Boston looking at an opportunity to possibly tie the series at 2-2 going back to Buffalo, the Bruins put together their worst start of the season.
The first period was riddled with Boston turnovers and ineffective hockey, and the Sabres jumped on the mistakes like sharks to a wounded whale. Their relentless forechecking and goal-scoring touch left the Bruins faithful frustrated and depleted, as the first period ended with Buffalo leading 4-0.
Boston would experience another first period letdown on home ice, as Buffalo was the sharper, more determined team in the first period of game 6. The Bruins were unable to take the momentum of David Pastrnak’s exciting game 5 overtime winner into the start of the must-win contest. The Sabres again potted multiple goals in the first period and, despite Boston pushing back, Buffalo never lost the lead. They won 4-1 to secure their first playoff series win since 2007.
It would have been a tall task for the Bruins to win this series as a wild card, taking on the Atlantic Division-winning Sabres. But for Boston to lose all three home games in this playoff series, by allowing 13 goals and only finding the back of the net three times, is really disappointing. They performed so well on home ice the entire regular season, but viewers of this matchup would not have guessed that.
The core of this Bruins team really needed to dig deep and find a way to perform better on home ice this series. They did not reach the standard of play they showed all season long.
Bruins fans in attendance were able to set the tone with a raucous energy at the start of each puck drop. But the Boston skaters were unable to rise to the occasion and consistently give the fans something to cheer for in this series. It is disheartening that the Bruins played so poorly at home for the three biggest games of the season.
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