Trailing Again: Breaking Apart Bruins Game 3 Loss

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BOSTON – The Boston Bruins got the start they wanted, but couldn’t capitalize late and are now behind in the series again. 

The Bruins (1-2) dropped Game 3, losing 3-1 to the Buffalo Sabres (2-1) on Thursday night at the TD Garden. Tanner Jeannot (1) scored his first career playoff goal, and Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves, but three unanswered goals, along with the Bruins going 0-for-4 on the power play, lifted the Sabres ahead in the series. 

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“Yeah, [Alex Lyon] played good. But it was not, I think, it was not the issue. First of all, they were just a little bit better than us,” said head coach Marco Sturm. “I got to say, you know, I thought we were a little tight, right from the start. I could see it a little bit on the power play, too. But we were still in the game, and we were fine.” 

“Just those little mistakes cost us the second goal there. But other than that, yeah, it was just unfortunate because we were excited to be at home, and for some reason, like I said, we didn’t play the way we did Game 1 and 2.”

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Bruins were held to 25 shot attempts at 5-on-5 and 45 overall, both their lowest totals of the series. They also only generated six high-danger attempts. 

On Wednesday, Tanner Jeannot spoke about his excitement to get to the TD Garden and play his first home playoff game in front of the crowd. He showed up by scoring the first Bruins goal, which popped the crowd, but there was one thing that mattered more to Jeannot. 

“It was a good, heavy shift. Good hits. We were playing a simple game all night long,” he said after the game on Thursday. “Nice to see one go in, but it’s about getting the win. Yeah, feels good to see one go in, but would have rather had the win.”

The fourth line is the only Bruins forward line to finish with a positive Corsi, generating six shot attempts while allowing five. 

The Bruins generated chances on the power play; eight of their 25 shots came on their four power plays. They had 12 shot attempts. Nothing found the back of the net. 

“We had the big opportunities on [the] power play,” Pastrnak said. “I think we got two power plays in the last six, seven minutes, you know. So we have to bury one of those. It’s on us, guys on the power play, to be better. Their goalie played well, but we have to make it a little harder on him as well.” 

Pastrnak also said “every game was pretty much same scripted.” 

The Bruins have opened the scoring in all three games this series, but two late pushes by the Sabres have tilted the series in their favor. 

All three games have also featured heavy contact with goaltender Jeremy Swayman. He joked after the game that a younger him would have reacted differently. 

“We addressed it. It happened today again,” Marco Sturm said. “Again, that’s one way they try to do. And they’ve been doing it for three games. It just seems like they didn’t get a call yet. I’m waiting too. But it’s obviously not in my control.”

It is the heavy-hitters, like Nikita Zadorov, Mark Kastelic, and Tanner Jeannot, who will step up and clear anyone out of Swayman’s way. Morgan Geekie did it in the first and was penalized for a cross-check. 

“Obviously, we would love to play that way,” Kastelic said after the game. “I think the refs kind of, at the beginning of the game, set the tone with one of the calls there, and so, we’re trying to not go over the line and hurt our team by being in the penalty box, but it’s definitely hard because I think we thrive off that.”

Naturally, the Bruins are ready to move on to Game 4. They have shown resilience throughout the season, and they have done it once already this series. 

Their head coach is confident that the Bruins can bounce back.

“We just got to, again, put this one behind. We’re going to address it in the next few days again,” Marco Sturm said. “Areas where we can do better, and then we’re going to bounce back. We’ve done it all year long. I think that’s going to be the biggest message. Nothing really changes. We did it in Buffalo. We did it all season long. We always bounce back, and we’re still in a pretty good spot.”

The Bruins have an extra day off, and they will stay off the ice on Friday. They return to practice on Saturday, then will play Game 4 at the TD Garden on Sunday afternoon. 

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