The Boston Bruins are unfortunately in a very precarious position following their blowout 6-1 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
The loss put the Bruins into a three-games-to-one series hold, meaning they now must win three straight contests against the Sabres, who have firm control of all of the momentum heading into Game 5 on Tuesday evening in Buffalo, which promises to be nothing short of a completely rowdy atmosphere.
Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman was pulled after allowing Buffalo’s sixth goal of the game on the 29th shot that he faced, and as he entered the team bench during the third period, television cameras caught him shouting at his teammates out of frustration.
Following their practice session on Monday morning, Swayman addressed the controversy.
Boston Bruins Goaltender Jeremy Swayman Said The Club’s Standard Wasn’t Met
When asked by reporters about his outburst toward his teammates upon being pulled from Sunday’s Game 4, Swayman simply said that the club’s standard of play wasn’t being met and that they were preparing for their do-or-die Game 5 in Buffalo on Tuesday.
“We have an extremely high competitive group. We all have a standard that we all carry ourselves to, and it wasn’t met. So that was just emotion,” Swayman said from the dressing room. “It’s moved on now, and we have a job to do going into Buffalo.”
Despite the frustrating loss to put them on the cusp of postseason elimination, the Bruins held firm in their support of Swayman.
“Both of our goalies have been rock solid for us all year. They haven’t left us out to dry one game this year,” defenseman Hampus Lindholm said. “They deserve more from us. We just have to look each other in the mirror and go out there and put on a team effort, because the only way out of this is together.”
Boston “Must Reset” Quickly Before Do-Or-Die Game 5 Against Sabres In Buffalo
The Bruins know they have no choice but to win three straight games in order to avoid a first-round elimination against the Sabres, who recently broke the NHL’s lengthiest postseason drought; before this spring, Buffalo hadn’t advanced to play beyond the regular season since 2011.
“Guys were embarrassed yesterday about our performance, especially at home. Today they came in, and they were pissed. You could see it in practice – it was intense,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “We need it to be intense because we can’t have it loose. We have a one-game mission, and that’s just going to be tomorrow.”
“Obviously, we are not happy with what happened. At the same time, one game, have to learn from it and flush it and move on,” Casey Mittelstadt said. “The next one is the biggest one. That’s the thing about playoffs – sometimes you get beat down, but you can always come back. We have a big game coming up here.”
Game 5 is scheduled to drop the puck from KeyBank Center in Buffalo beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. If the Bruins manage to win, they would force Game 6 back in Boston, which would be later in the week.
Bruins Jeremy Swayman Addresses Bench Meltdown