That’s It: Breaking Apart Bruins Season-Ending Loss
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON – The Boston Bruins exceeded outside expectations this season, but their playoff run came to a disappointing end on Friday night.
The Buffalo Sabres picked up a 4-1 win at the TD Garden, and with the win, knocked the Bruins out in six games. David Pastrnak (3) scored for the Bruins, but they never overcame a two-goal first period from the Sabres and did not force a Game 7.
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Was there pressure? Yes, for sure. I don’t think I need to tell you that.
Marco Sturm said that he believed the Bruins noticed the added pressure of playing on home ice.
“But why do we feel the pressure? Because we care. I think guys cared. They wanted to prove everyone wrong. And sometimes it goes in your way. And I think that’s what happened a little bit,” Sturm added. “[The Sabres] played the game like we played the other night in Buffalo. So that’s sometimes how it goes. But again, it’s not [a] lack of effort. It’s not [a] lack of attitude. These guys care. I can tell you that.”
“It could be. I mean, it’s hard to believe,” Nikita Zadorov said about the pressure. “It’s hard right now. Obviously, it’s empty inside. So, it’s hard to like point fingers or like actually find a way what was wrong.”
He also revealed that he fully tore his MCL “off the bone” in Game 3.
The Bruins did not pick up a win at the TD Garden this series, and they were outscored 13-3 and outshot 91-75 on home ice.
“For whatever reason, we were awesome at home this year, and then we just didn’t do it when it mattered the most. So I don’t know if it’s a maturity thing, we just weren’t ready to go, details, I’m not exactly sure, but they got the jump on us all three times,” Charlie McAvoy said just after admitting he is not in the right mindset to give an answer.
Charlie McAvoy on the home struggles in the playoffs: “I mean, it’s tough to answer right now. I don’t think [I’m] probably in the right mindset to answer. It’s just not acceptable. I don’t know exactly what it is. We can talk a big game in here about how excited we are.”
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That feeling both Zadorov and McAvoy mentioned was echoed by the players who spoke with the media on Friday night. It was too soon to digest where they went wrong in the series; they will have more answers when they clear out their lockers.
“It’s so fresh now. It’s really hard to put the finger on [something],” Hampus Lindholm said. “We know playoffs is a little tighter. We have to find ways to still get pucks to the net and get those playoff bounces with guys at the net, get those really dirty hockey goals, I guess, get a little more feisty with that stuff. It would probably help, but also be patient with our game. I think maybe we were a little bit impatient at home here.”
Lindholm praised the Bruins’ patience in Game 5, but that did not carry over into Game 6.
The Sabres broke the ice just 3:25 into the game, the fastest goal to open a game in the series, and followed with another goal nine minutes later.
Though the teams equaled shot attempts (15) in the first period, the Bruins only got six shots through on Alex Lyon. They finished with 26, equal to the Sabres, but David Pastrnak’s one-timer was the only shot to beat him.
“Made a push, made a couple mistakes, and ends up in our net,” Pastrnak said. “They’re too skilled to do that [against]. And in the third, same thing, we almost tied it up, and then we made, me and [Hampus Lindholm] made a mistake, and yeah, that goal was big.”
On the Sabres’ third goal, Hampus Lindholm intended to play the puck back to David Pastrnak, but Pastrnak lost his footing, and the puck landed in the Bruins’ d-zone. Josh Doan beat both Pastrnak and McAvoy to the puck and fed a wide-open Zach Benson to give the Sabres a 3-1 lead. Lindholm said the play was a “miscommunication.”
The Bruins had seven high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, but did not register one in the third period. They outattempted the Sabres 20-9 and outshot them 12-7 in the final 20 minutes.
Another feeling that was echoed throughout the room was how proud everyone was of the team. From the outside, the Bruins were expected to be a team with a lottery pick (not many thought it would be Toronto’s), but that was not true within the locker room.
Marco Sturm, who did take time to reflect on his first year behind an NHL bench, said he reminded the team how proud he was, even after losing the series.
“It sucks, right? Getting kicked out of the playoffs hurts. It absolutely hurts,” said Sturm. “But also, I reminded them what kind of season they played. You know, no one really thought we would be in the mix in the playoffs. Forget about the playoffs, right? Look at us, 100-point season, and battled really hard until the very end. I just wanted them to know how proud I am.”
“But also, now we got a little taste. So that means we got to go, [Don Sweeney] said it a few months ago, we still have work to do. That’s what we’re going to start tomorrow.”
There will not be a Game 7 on Sunday night. The Bruins’ 2025-26 campaign comes to a close.
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