Trailing the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, in their best-of-seven first-round series on Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins were looking to even up the series before it shifted back to Western New York for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Tied 1-1 entering the third period on Thursday night in Game 3, the Sabres tallied two third-period goals in a 3-1 victory. On Sunday, a lot of Bruins fans were looking for a bounce-back from the Black and Gold to even the series. Or at least a hard-fought battle. It didn't happen.
Instead, the Bruins allowed four goals in the first 15 minutes of the game, played as sloppy an opening period as they could have, and left their goalie, Jeremy Swayman, out to dry in the opening 30-plus minutes and found themselves in a 6-0 hole through 40 minutes. After the game, defenseman Charlie McAvoy didn't hold back on how the locker room should feel after a 6-1 beatdown by Buffalo.
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy doesn't beat around the bush after ugly Game 4 loss
There is no other way to put it, it was an embarrassment for the Black and Gold. Heck, how many people noticed that Sean Kuraly ended the shutout of Alex Lyon with 39 seconds left in the game? Not many. However, the other 59:21 left too much to be desired. McAvoy didn't hold back.
“Man to man in here, if we're not f***ing embarrassed with what just happened, then I don't know what to say,'' said McAvoy.
Nobody does. That was not the type of performance for a team that faced a must-win to come out and have. A performance like that doesn't put a lot of faith in people to think that they can go to Buffalo and win Game 4 on Tuesday night. We'll hear about how they need to respond, and that wasn't us. Now they need to answer the bell, or it will be time to hit the golf course late in the week.
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