To keep their first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres tight, the Boston Bruins had to win Game 4 at home. Instead, they played flat and were completely devastated by Buffalo 6-1, putting them down 3-1 in their best-of-seven series.
Bruins’ starting goalie, Jeremy Swayman, was particularly displeased with his squad following the dismal performance. As he was dragged early in the third quarter with Boston losing 6-0, he walked to the bench and yelled something at his teammates.
Swayman conceded six goals on 29 shots before being replaced in goal by Joonas Korpisalo, who saved all six shots he faced.
Postgame, head coach Marco Strum expressed his admiration for Swayman’s intensity and passion when he was taken out.
“Absolutely,” Sturm said. “At least one man. It wasn’t his fault today, I can assure you. That’s why we kept him in there for a time, because he’s a fighter who wants to be in.
The Bruins got off to a poor start, as Peyton Krebs, Josh Doan, Zach Benson, and Bowen Byram all scored in the first 14:24 of the first quarter, giving Buffalo a commanding 4-0 lead. Even worse, Boston only had two shots on goal during that stretch.
Throughout the game, Bruins supporters grew increasingly annoyed, mock cheering Swayman every time he stopped a shot.
Swayman lost his cool as Beck Malenstyn and Alex Tuch scored early in the third quarter to extend the score to 6-0, and he surrendered the net.
Bruins forward Sean Kuraly would score with 40 seconds left, breaking Alex Lyon’s shutout attempt.
“I’m embarrassed,” Sturm remarked. “We should all be embarrassed. “
According to The Hockey Show’s Ty Anderson, the Bruins are now 3-10 in their past 13 home playoff games, dating back to 2023. The current slump is their worst 13-game home playoff stretch since a 3-10 slide from 1995 to 1999. They are currently on their longest home playoff losing streak, five games, since a seven-game slump from 1994 to 1996.
“I believe you have to use both portions of it,” Charlie McAvoy said. “You can’t sit with it because if you carry it into the next game, it’s not going to be any good. However, I believe we can use it to start a fire at the same time. Man to man in here; if we are not embarrassed by what happened, I have no idea what to say. It is not over after three games, thus we still have a lot to play for, and we know we are a better squad than we played today. ”
Boston now faces a virtually impossible uphill struggle to return into the series. Only 32 clubs in NHL history have rallied to win a series after trailing 3-1, with the most recent being the Florida Panthers, who did so in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the… Boston Bruins.
