After falling behind the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series with a 3-1 loss on Thursday night at the TD Garden. Boston now faces a must-win in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon to avoid going down 3-1 with the series shifting back to Western New York for Game 5 on Tuesday.
As is the case sometimes when a team falls behind in a series, there are going to be lineup changes heading into Game 4. Bruins coach Marco Strum confirmed on Saturday that defenseman Jordan Harris is going to slot in for Mason Lohrei and forward Lukas Reichel is going to slot in for prospect James Hagens. To be honest, neither move is really surprising. As for Reichel, what is he looking to use and do in Game 4?
“Just use my speed, forecheck, go to the net and get some momentum,” Reichel said. “For me, it’s just try to be mentally prepared, sleep good today and then wake up and play hockey. For me, it’s going to be fun. Try to enjoy it and don’t be worried about anything else.”
At this point, any move is worth trying against the more talented and faster Sabres.
Tage Thompson believes Sabres power play is close to scoring
If there has been one head-scratching stat from the series, it's been that the Sabres have yet to cash in on the power play. They have had plenty of opportunities, more than the Black and Gold, but have yet to break through. Eventually, they will break through, and when they do, they'll be that much more difficult to beat. Tage Thompson believes the breakthrough is close.
"I think it's just going to take one going in for us for us to start to feel it,'' said Thompson.
If Buffalo starts connecting on the power play, look out. That could doom the Bruins. Staying out of the penalty box is a must, but something that Boston can't do.
Hurricanes sweep Senators
Was it surprising that the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs? No. Was it surprising that the Carolina Hurricanes swept the Ottawa Senators in the first round? Yes.
Carolina completed the sweep on Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 win on the road. Former Bruins forward Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist in the game. For the series, former Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark finished the four games with a 2.03 goals against average with a .932 save percentage. That's the numbers for the losing goalie in the series.
Add us as a preferred source on Google