The Boston Bruins needed to get back in the win column to save their playoff lives. Being on home ice would certainly be an advantage, one would think, especially if they wanted to tie their series against the Buffalo Sabres.
Well, the Bruins no-showed, losing 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. Now, they are one more defeat away from being eliminated from the playoffs and their season ending. It wasn't even a close game, as the Bruins trailed 4-0 entering the first intermission. It certainly didn't help that goaltender Jeremy Swayman was dealing with an onslaught of shots from Buffalo, with Boston being outshot 19-5 in the first period.
When the Bruins trailed 6-0 in the third period, head coach Marco Sturm pulled Swayman in favor of Joonas Korpisalo. As Swayman left for the locker room, he let the Bruins bench hear it, clearly not happy about what transpired in the game.
Jeremy Swayman had some WORDS for the Bruins bench after being pulled 😳 pic.twitter.com/9lSbs9rj1d
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 26, 2026
Jeremy Swayman yells at Bruins bench after being pulled in Game 4
Sure, he could have stopped some shots, but facing 29 shots in over 46 minutes is not ideal, especially against a strong Sabres team.
After the game, Sturm was asked about the incident and if he liked that Swayman showed some fire. Sturm said "at least one guy did." Sturm said it wasn't Swayman's fault that they lost and that he "felt bad" for the goalie.
Sturm on Swayman:
— Bridgette Proulx (@bridgetteproulx) April 26, 2026
"At least one guy" had some fire.
"It was not his fault today, I can tell you that. I felt bad for him. That's why we kept him in there for a while, because he's a battler, he wants to be in." pic.twitter.com/VXzSZug0bx
The Bruins may have had the face-off and hits advantages, but that's about it. They were issued 25 penalty minutes, as opposed to Buffalo's eight. The Bruins had 17 giveaways, as opposed to the Sabres' 14. Boston only netted 25 shots on goal, as opposed to Buffalo's 35. That is how you lose a hockey game convincingly.
With this latest game in the books, Swayman now has a .898 save percentage through four starts in this playoff series against Buffalo.
Given the Bruins are on the brink of elimination, one has to wonder if Sturm will opt to take desperate measures. As in, benching Swayman and giving Koorpisalo the start in Game 5 on Tuesday night. Either that, or bank on the players waking up and playing more motivated hockey with their season officially on the line.
Whatever Swayman said to the bench, he certainly had conviction.
Add us as a preferred source on Google