That’s It: Breaking Apart Bruins Season-Ending Loss

That feeling both Zadorov and McAvoy mentioned was echoed by the players who spoke with the media on Friday night. It was too soon to digest where they went wrong in the series; they will have more answers when they clear out their lockers.

“It’s so fresh now. It’s really hard to put the finger on [something],” Hampus Lindholm said. “We know playoffs is a little tighter. We have to find ways to still get pucks to the net and get those playoff bounces with guys at the net, get those really dirty hockey goals, I guess, get a little more feisty with that stuff. It would probably help, but also be patient with our game. I think maybe we were a little bit impatient at home here.”

Lindholm praised the Bruins’ patience in Game 5, but that did not carry over into Game 6.

The Sabres broke the ice just 3:25 into the game, the fastest goal to open a game in the series, and followed with another goal nine minutes later.

Though the teams equaled shot attempts (15) in the first period, the Bruins only got six shots through on Alex Lyon. They finished with 26, equal to the Sabres, but David Pastrnak’s one-timer was the only shot to beat him.

“Made a push, made a couple mistakes, and ends up in our net,” Pastrnak said. “They’re too skilled to do that [against]. And in the third, same thing, we almost tied it up, and then we made, me and [Hampus Lindholm] made a mistake, and yeah, that goal was big.”

On the Sabres’ third goal, Hampus Lindholm intended to play the puck back to David Pastrnak, but Pastrnak lost his footing, and the puck landed in the Bruins’ d-zone. Josh Doan beat both Pastrnak and McAvoy to the puck and fed a wide-open Zach Benson to give the Sabres a 3-1 lead. Lindholm said the play was a “miscommunication.”

The Bruins had seven high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, but did not register one in the third period. They outattempted the Sabres 20-9 and outshot them 12-7 in the final 20 minutes.

Another feeling that was echoed throughout the room was how proud everyone was of the team. From the outside, the Bruins were expected to be a team with a lottery pick (not many thought it would be Toronto’s), but that was not true within the locker room.

Marco Sturm, who did take time to reflect on his first year behind an NHL bench, said he reminded the team how proud he was, even after losing the series.

“It sucks, right? Getting kicked out of the playoffs hurts. It absolutely hurts,” said Sturm. “But also, I reminded them what kind of season they played. You know, no one really thought we would be in the mix in the playoffs. Forget about the playoffs, right? Look at us, 100-point season, and battled really hard until the very end. I just wanted them to know how proud I am.”

“But also, now we got a little taste. So that means we got to go, [Don Sweeney] said it a few months ago, we still have work to do. That’s what we’re going to start tomorrow.”

There will not be a Game 7 on Sunday night. The Bruins’ 2025-26 campaign comes to a close.

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