Bruins lose East 1st Round to Sabres, home woes among factors

The Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden in Boston on Friday.

The Bruins (45-27-10) were the first wild card in the East and qualified for the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons, only missing last season. They haven’t made it past the second round since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, when they lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games.

Prior to the season, many believed Boston wouldn’t be a playoff team, but it found some chemistry and received production throughout its lineup, buying into 1st-year coach Marco Sturm’s systems.

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Viktor Arvidsson, F; Andrew Peeke, D

Potential restricted free agents: Lukas Reichel, F; Jordan Harris, D

Potential 2026 Draft picks: 8

Here are five reasons why the Bruins were eliminated:

1. Not much help for Swayman

The Bruins being ousted had nothing to do with goaltending. Jeremy Swayman did his part throughout the series (2.91 goals-against average, .906 save percentage), despite being pulled in the third period of a 6-1 loss in Game 4. Swayman displayed his frustration toward his teammates as he left the ice.

“At least one guy (was motivated), right?” Sturm said.

The Bruins responded to Swayman’s message with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 5 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Swayman made 22 saves in Game 6 on Friday, but his teammates in front of him were held to one goal for the third time in the series. 

Swayman has been named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top goalie, after he went 31-18-4 with a 2.71 GAA and .908 save percentage in 54 games during the regular season.

2. Home woes

After tying the Carolina Hurricanes in the regular season for the most home wins in the League (29), the Bruins lost each of their three playoff games at TD Garden. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy, an alternate captain, described his team’s play at home against the Sabres as “not acceptable.” Sturm said he thought maybe his players felt too much pressure on home ice.

“I don’t know exactly what it is,” McAvoy said. “We can talk a big game in here about how excited we are, and for whatever reason we were awesome at home this year. (But) we didn’t do it when it mattered the most. I don’t know if it’s a maturity thing, it it’s we just weren’t ready to go, details, I’m not exactly sure. They got the jump on us all three times.”

3. Lack of secondary scoring

After finishing the regular season with 100 points (29 goals, 41 assists), forward David Pastrnak did his part with seven (three goals, four assists) in six playoff games, including the overtime goal in Game 5. He followed it up with a highlight-reel goal in Game 6.

Morgan Geekie, however, scored twice in the series after leading the Bruins with 39 goals in the regular season. Pavel Zacha, who was second on the team with 30 goals, scored once and had 11 shots on goal. McAvoy finished the series with two assists and was minus-6 after he had 61 points (11 goals, 50 assists) and was plus-13.

4. Losing the forecheck battle

It’s no coincidence the team that dominated on the forecheck won this series. The Sabres kept their feet moving in all three zones, especially on the forecheck. Time and again, Boston turned the puck over, allowing scoring opportunities after being unable to break out of its zone cleanly.

5. Lack of line chemistry

A team is at its best when it’s able to consistently roll four lines and three defense pairs. That certainly was the case for Bruins during their successful playoff runs that was highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship in 2011.

Sturm was forced to tweak his lineup several times during the series; only the fourth line of Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly and Mark Kastelic remained intact and was Boston’s most consistent. Sturm attempted to find the right chemistry but wasn’t able to find a line that could consistently create chances. 

The Bruins had nine players who made their NHL playoff debut, including James Hagens, Jonathan Aspirot, Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, Reichel, Harris, Fraser Minten, Alex Steeves and Henri Jokiharju. Hagens, the No, 7 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, is only 19 years old.

It didn’t help that Arvidsson, who scored twice in the series, sustained an upper-body injury in Game 4 and missed the final two games. He had 25 goals in the regular season.

Boston also struggled defensively. Mason Lohrei was removed from the lineup after three games and was replaced by a combination of Harris and Jokiharju. Lohrei, who had 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) and was plus-17 in the regular season, was minus-4 and held off the score sheet against the Sabres.