James Hagens has been with the Boston Bruins since late in the regular season and through the first two games of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres. However, Game 3 on Thursday night at the TD Garden was a struggle, to say the least.
He logged just 9:53 in time on ice on Thursday night. In the second period, with the Bruins clinging to a 1-0 lead, Bowen Byram's shot deflected off Hagens and ended up in the back of the net to tie the game. That started a string of three straight goals in a 3-1 Buffalo victory. On Friday, Sturm didn't reveal any lineup decisions for Sunday's Game 4, but it's hard to ignore this quote about Hagens.
“We’ll see. We’re just in the process of going through the game again from (Thursday) night and we’ll see (Saturday),” said Sturm. “So far, he’s been really good. He’s given us everything he’s had. And you’re right. He had more mistakes probably last game than he’d done in the past, so we’ll see. We’re going to analyze this and go from there.”
It wouldn't be surprising if Hagens was replaced in the lineup, but if he is, well, the options are few and far between. Maybe the best option is Lukas Reichel to match some of the Sabres speed. We'll see if there are changes of any kind on Sunday.
Bruins take advantage of extra day off in series
After playing every other day through the first three games of the series, the Bruins and Sabres will get an extra day off in between Games 3 and 4. Game 4 isn't until Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden shortly after 2 o'clock. Both teams were off Friday, and Sturm thinks the extra day could help.
“I believe it is good for us, just to have that little break and regroup. But we’ll see. They’re in the same boat, so we’ll see how it goes next game,” Sturm said. “I think by now, we know how we have to play and what works and what not. Hopefully, that day in between will help us.”
Saturday's practice will be interesting to see what the lines look like, unless it's an optional practice.
Lindy Ruff liked his team's Game 3
It was clear that the Bruins had the Sabres frustrated after Game 2. Head coach Lindy Ruff downplayed how upset he was with the public, but likely made his feelings known behind closed doors. On Friday, he liked their response in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.
"I think to a man, we didn't like Game 2," Ruff said. "I may have downplayed it a little bit on the outside, but we -- to a man -- didn't like the way we played in Game 2. We knew we could play a lot better, we knew we could have the puck a lot more. I felt we could generate more and I thought we got to a point where we were starting to wear them out last night."
Feels like the roles are reversed and the Bruins are the ones frustrated after Game 3. A win Sunday and the Sabres can close things out on Tuesday night at home.
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