Angry Bruins 'embracing' chance for redemption in Game 5 of East 1st Round

BOSTON -- None of the emotions from Sunday had dissipated by the time the Boston Bruins arrived at their practice facility on Monday. They were embarrassed. They were angry. They were disappointed. 

"Today they came in and they were pissed," coach Marco Sturm said. "You could see it in practice. It was intense. We needed to be intense because we can't have it loose. 

"We have a one-game mission, and that's just going to be tomorrow. That was the message today: It's one game. That's it. That's how we look at it. They're going to be ready, but we've got to make sure we're going to be ready right from the start."

That one game is set for Tuesday at KeyBank Center (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, NESN, MSG-B, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS), in an atmosphere that is sure to be wild for a rabid fan base that could see its team reach the Eastern Conference Second Round for the first time since it reached the Conference Final in 2007.

The Bruins are hoping to prevent that. 

Less than 24 hours had elapsed since the Bruins skated off the ice at TD Garden after Game 4, a game in which they had gone down by four goals in the first period on a medley of turnovers and miscues, and which they eventually lost 6-1 in humiliating fashion, with the Buffalo Sabres taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. 

They had dropped both games at TD Garden, a strange turn of events for a team that had tied the Carolina Hurricanes for the most home wins in the NHL this season (29). But it was the way it happened that was so stunning. In a series in which they had been competitive in the first three games, in Game 4 they simply were not. 

"We met today as a coaching staff and also obviously with the team to address a lot of things," Sturm said. "Why did it happen? I think we all feel and know how bad we were yesterday. I think the only goal right now is our response. That's the big one.

"We've got to fix it in a hurry."

There was no question how Jeremy Swayman felt about the game, the result. The goalie barked at the bench as he left the ice at 6:41 of the third period, with Joonas Korpisalo entering to replace him after the TV timeout that followed Alex Tuch's goal to make it 6-0. 

"We have an extremely high competitive group and we all have a standard that we all carry ourselves to and it wasn't met," Swayman said on Monday. "So that was just emotion. I know that it's moved on now and we have a job to do going into Buffalo."

He emphasized, ultimately, that they will win and lose as a team, even if they know they did not play to their abilities on Sunday.

"Everyone in here has a standard that we know we're capable of and I think that's what really is the underlying cause here," he said. "Again, we know we have a job to do. We know we can compete at an extremely high level and that's what we're going to do."

It was unclear whether Sturm would make changes to his lineup for Game 5; he told reporters to disregard any of the line combinations and defensive pairs he showed at practice on Monday. Part of that was the uncertain status of two members of the Bruins, each of whom were not at practice: Viktor Arvidsson, who did not finish Game 4 with an upper-body injury, and Nikita Zadorov, who was fined $5,000 by the Department of Player Safety for a cross-check on Rasmus Dahlin at the end of the game, for which he was also given a five-minute major and a game misconduct at 16:43 of the third period. 

But whoever is there, Swayman said that the Bruins would be "embracing" the privilege that's ahead of them, a chance to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a chance at another game this season. And, too, he said, they know how to play in difficult games, in difficult situations, with those outside not entirely believing in them.

As he put it, "I think we played a lot of the season like a Game 5 mentality with backs against the wall and understanding that we have something to prove to ourselves and everyone around the League. And I think that we should feel comfortable in a position like this because we've practiced it and we know that we can be successful."

Still, they can't play as they did on Sunday. They know that.

"We've got to play together as a unit of five," Sturm said. "That's something I can share because we didn't do it at all, not at all. It was always a piece missing, always. And I think that made us so good, being very structured and being hard to play against and being connected, that made us (get) to the playoffs. And we've got to remember that."

While Sturm said he believes that the Sabres have gotten better over the series, as the Bruins have trended in the other direction, he also believes that the fate of the Bruins is in their own hands Tuesday. 

"It's all up to us," he said. "They didn't do much different. I think it was just us and we have to make sure we do our job."

Sturm, who is generally an open book, would not exactly specify what he told his team in meetings or what he said to them on the ice, but he gave a peek at his general message, at what he wanted to get across to his players with their season on the line on Tuesday. 

"We're all in the same boat," Sturm said. "Nobody was pointing fingers, the players, coaches. … We are all in this one. These guys worked so hard all year long. It hurt yesterday, absolutely, but way too many good things happened here all year long and we're going to stick together like we do all year long. 

"We're going to carry out tomorrow -- I don't know the end result. I really don't know, but I know the guys care. I know the guys will show a response. I don't know if it's going to win. But at least that I'm very confident about going into tomorrow's game."