The Boston Bruins entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Buffalo Sabres as an underdog. The Sabres won the Atlantic Division, and the Bruins finished in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The odds were stacked against the Black and Gold, but the series was there for the taking.
Buffalo closed out the series on Friday night with a 4-1 Game 6 win over the Bruins at the TD Garden, winning all three games in Boston, something that can't happen if you want to advance in the postseason. Some performances were just not good enough, where the Black and Gold could have used better performances. Here are three players to throw under the bus for the series loss.
Charlie McAvoy
It was a tough series at times for Charlie McAvoy, but his Game 6 mistakes were costly. He left Alex Tuch alone in front of the net for the first Sabres goal in the opening period for an early 1-0 lead. Then in the third period, there was no communication with David Pastrnak as they both chased the same player into the corner, which left Zach Benson alone in front to score, which proved to be the back-breaking goal.
Look, McAvoy catches a lot of flak on social media, and some Bruins fans want him traded, but you don't trade him. Yes, he has struggled in the playoffs, and it was a rough series, but he needs to be better in the spring for the Black and Gold to advance.
Hampus Lindholm
Speaking of players who catch flak on social media, enter Hampus Lindholm. This was a tough series again for the left-shot blueliner. Yes, he made the season-saving pass to David Pastrnak for the game-winning goal in Game 5, but he also had a lot of turnovers and suspect play in his own end.
If there is a defenseman that might be moved to break things up on the backend, maybe Don Sweeney looks to move Lindholm, but it's unlikely. It was another postseason series where Hampus Lindholm needed to be better.
Elias Lindholm
This is beginning to be a little concerning. Elias Lindholm wasn't the player that the Bruins needed to be. He has been pushed into the top center role, but right now, he's not a top-line center. He finished with two goals, but he was on the ice for a lot of goals given up.
Going forward, it's hard to envision Sweeney being able to move Elias Lindholm, so he's going to need to be better. Truth be told, he needed to be one of the top players in the postseason, and he wasn't. All three of these players needed to be better, and they weren't.
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