Recap: Bruins on the brink of elimination after Game 4 blowout

After a tightly played Game 3, where the Bruins could point to missed opportunities as the difference between a win and a loss, fans hoped to see a little more jump on offense and a little more finish in Game 4.

Instead, the Bruins turned in one of the more calamitous defensive performances in recent memory and got absolutely pummeled by Buffalo, losing Game 4 by a score of 6-1.

The Bruins were booed off the ice at the end of a first period that saw them allow four goals, including three within a span of less than five minutes.

It was, in a word, an embarrassing effort from just about everyone wearing a Bruins jersey or standing behind the Bruins bench.

The B’s ultimately trailed 6-0, only for Sean Kuraly to score the team’s only goal with 40 seconds left in the third period.

The Bruins melted down further down the stretch, with Nikita Zadorov getting five-and-a-game for cross-checking Rasmus Dahlin, potentially earning himself supplemental discipline in the process.

If you enjoy watching horror movies, here are your highlights:

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The B’s will have to win in Buffalo on Tuesday night in order to extend their season, though fans could be forgiven for being hesitant to coming back out after Sunday’s debacle.

Bruins lose, 6-1.

Game notes

This game was a horror show for the Bruins, just about from the opening face-off. They came out flat, with Buffalo outshooting them 3-0 in the first couple minutes of the game, then the wheels fell off. To me, the game was reminiscent of the B’s more recent playoff loss to Florida, where they spent the majority of the series looking like they were playing on half speed and ended up completely overwhelmed.
Perhaps the most frustrating part is that the B’s first period meltdown was almost entirely self-inflicted. The first goal was a calamity of errors: Charlie McAvoy and Jonathan Aspirate couldn’t complete a 15-foot pass. Fraser Minten tried to carry the puck back into the defensive zone instead of just chipping it out. Buffalo scores ten seconds later. They compounded that by taking a too many men on the ice penalty a couple minutes later, then gave up a goal just after that power play expired when Hampus Lindholm failed to clear the zone. It was mistake after mistake after mistake.
To compound matters, the Bruins showed pretty much no push-back the entire game. It wasn’t until just about the end of the second period, when the B’s were given a power play opportunity down 4-0, that they showed a little jump on offense; predictably, it didn’t lead to a goal.
Jeremy Swayman was pulled after allowing six goals, the vast majority of which (if not all) can be placed squarely on the shoulders of the team in front of him. He could be seen barking at the bench on his way down the tunnel as frustration boiled over.
You could make an argument that Swayman should have been mercy-pulled earlier than that, given the way the team was playing, but Marco Sturm failed to really pull any of the right levers yesterday.
Viktor Arvidsson left the game with an upper-body injury after skating just over three minutes. He didn’t return, and his status for Tuesday is in doubt.
I’d imagine Sturm makes another swap on the third line in Game 5, as Lukas Reichel wasn’t the solution. I don’t mean to call him out directly for any real reason, but he ended up with no shots, blocks, hits, etc., so we’ll likely see Mikey Eyssimont or Alex Steeves tomorrow.