Bruins Regroup and Shift Focus to Game 2 in Buffalo, ‘A Lot of Belief’

BUFFALO –– It was right to the video room for the Boston Bruins on Monday.

After falling 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres in Game 1 on Sunday, head coach Marco Sturm gathered his team off the ice to review what worked and what didn't in their opening playoff showing.

“There are always areas to improve. But again, overall, we were really detailed. I liked our structure. There were a lot of good things,” Sturm said. “Again, we lost the game, so that means we did something wrong. That’s something, we touched on it today, and try to improve tomorrow.”

The first line of Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak all had a goal on Sunday; Geekie and Pastrnak finished the night with three points apiece. The Bruins had held the Sabres off the scoresheet for two periods while Jeremy Swayman made a total of 34 saves. Buffalo pushed in the end, but the B’s have a foundation to work from.

“The first 50 minutes, we did some good stuff. We can build off that. Obviously, it’s tough when you lose that way, but it’s a lot of hockey left to play. We come here with that mindset and try to win the next game,” Hampus Lindholm said. “It’s playoffs. There are small margins, especially on the road; there’s momentum. You see the energy they get from one goal, and then finding a way to reset and keep playing even though they’re getting their fans behind them a little bit. And try to use that to fuel us instead of maybe giving it to them. Try to play smart in those moments. It’s that time of year – little things are going to win you the game or cost you the game. It’s a tough lesson learned, but like I said, it’s a lot of hockey left.”​

Charlie McAvoy logged a team-high 24:18 of ice time in Game 1 while on the first pair with Jonathan Aspirot, as well as on the power play and penalty kill. The defenseman recognized areas of growth after digesting the loss and going through the tape.

“Being better on our forecheck, to keep them from being able to just break out pucks easy and transition. So we’ll look at that. And then with our neutral zone, just trying to have better gaps and making sure we’re not allowing them to make plays through us,” McAvoy said. “I think it’s just the same as yesterday – the excitement of what we were feeling. Come out and just try to play a great hockey game. Just finish it a little bit better.”

Boston’s penalty kill went 4-for-4 against the Sabres, led by the first unit of H. Lindholm, McAvoy, Mark Kastelic and Sean Kuraly. The group will keep adjusting to its opponent.

“Obviously, you limit them to score is the No. 1 thing. But there’s things that I think we want to look at to get even better. They came in with some speed and, like a double drop, a couple times on the entries that poses a challenge. We’ll continue to look at that,” Kuraly said. “Like anything, this power play is going to get better…We’re going to have to do the same.”

Sturm let his players regroup amongst themselves immediately after the game. It has been his philosophy all year – allow the room to breathe, and get back to work the next day.

“There’s not much to say usually after losses. But today, guys know me, I always get to the point right away today – even so I feel better. I think these guys feel better, too, after watching,” Sturm said. “It’s a long series, we’re ready for a long series, we want to play a long series. That means yesterday was yesterday. Today is today. It’s actually sunny here in Buffalo. We’ve got to enjoy that, regroup, recharge and go back at it tomorrow. I liked our attitude.”​

That sentiment is evident through the entire team, especially within the leadership group, which has seen its fair share of postseason hockey. Now, all focus shifts to Game 2 on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center.

“This time of year, you have to have a really short memory. Take the good, and then move on. You can’t let that linger. Learn from it and move on,” H. Lindholm said. “We’ve done it all year, proven that all year. So have a lot of belief and trust in the guys on this team to go out there and play a really good game tomorrow.”