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With Bruins’ season on the line, David Pastrnak and Boston’s big guns finally delivered in Game 5
"When the lights get the brightest, I think he has the most fun."
Nikita Zadorov didn’t mince words less than two hours ahead of puck drop in Game 5 of the Bruins’ first-round series against the Sabres.
Coming off an embarrassing 6-1 loss on home ice in Game 4, the Bruins weren’t just playing for pride Their season was hanging in the balance, with a resilient roster pushed to the brink amid a disheartening 3-1 series deficit.
“Everybody saw the result,” Zadorov said of that lopsided loss on Causeway Street. “It is a slap to the face and just cannot happen with our team, our organization, our identity. Today we’ve just got to come out and play like it’s the last game of our lives. Like our life is on the line. We’ve just got to go out there and try to die on the ice.”
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The Bruins didn’t die on the ice at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center. Rather, they lived to play another game.
And with their season pushed to the brink, the Bruins finally received a boost from some of their top players in a gutsy 2-1 overtime win on Tuesday.
David Pastrnak provided the heroics in a hostile environment, forcing a Game 6 back at TD Garden after tucking a puck past Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon 9:14 into overtime.
“He always gets it done,” Marco Sturm said of Pastrnak. “And what a nice finish for him. I’m just very happy — because this guy puts a lot of pressure on himself, and he wants to be the difference. And today he was.”
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As has been the case for most of this series, Jeremy Swayman didn’t budge in net.
The 27-year-old netminder turned aside 25 of the 26 shots that came his way, including six high-danger saves. Fresh off of barking at his teammates for their play in Game 4, Swayman snuffed out the Sabres’ hopes of completing a gentleman’s sweep at KeyBank Center.
As impressive as Swayman’s play has been so far during this playoff run, it’s largely been the norm for Boston’s No. 1 netminder during playoff action. In his last 17 playoff appearances, Swayman is sporting a stellar .926 save percentage.
What was in question on Tuesday was whether the rest of Boston’s core was going to rise to the occasion and extend the Bruins’ season for at least another few days.
Pastrnak and Co. delivered, to say the least.
After posting zeros on the scoresheet in Games 3 and 4 at TD Garden with a minus-5 rating, Pastrnak was an offensive force on Tuesday night.
Beyond his OT winner, the Bruins’ franchise forward peppered Lyon throughout the night — landing seven shots on goal and generating 12 total shot attempts.
A reworked top line featuring Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, and Marat Khusnutdinov tilted the ice in Boston’s favor — with the Bruins outshooting Buffalo, 9-4, and generating five high-danger scoring chances in their 16:12 of 5-on-5 reps.
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Pastrnak has now scored both of Boston’s last two playoff overtime tallies — reducing the Maple Leafs to mulch via a Game 7 dagger during the Bruins’ first-round bout with Toronto in 2024.
“He’s one of our leaders for a reason, and it’s exactly that — when the lights get the brightest, I think he has the most fun,” Swayman said of Pastrnak. “And that’s contagious throughout all of us. I know it’s helped me a lot, and it’s helped a lot of Bruins that come through the locker room. So it’s a pleasure watching him perform.”
The primary assist on both of Pastrnak’s last two OT winners has come off the stick of Hampus Lindholm — who orchestrated the star forward’s breakaway chance on Tuesday with a heads-up stretch pass.
A veteran stalwart on Boston’s D corps over the last few seasons, the 32-year-old Lindholm also bounced back in a major way on Tuesday.
Lindholm was saddled with a minus-5 rating against Buffalo entering Game 5, with his weak clearing attempt on Sunday directly leading to a Sabres tally in that disastrous showing in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4.
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But Lindholm made an impact down both ends of the ice over his 21:54 of ice time, using his stick to break up passes and slow down Buffalo’s rush-heavy offense — while also helping to bat down a fluttering puck after Swayman sprawled to the ice in the third period.
Boston’s defensive structure didn’t splinter this time around against Buffalo. The Bruins blocked 24 total shots and limited Buffalo to 25 shots on goal throughout the night.
Assistant captain Charlie McAvoy, who was on the ice for four Buffalo goals in Game 4, was sharper on Tuesday. He logged a team-best 26:24 of ice time against Buffalo, with Boston limiting the Sabres to zero high-danger scoring chances during the 15 minutes of 5-on-5 reps that McAvoy skated with Jonathan Aspirot.
Elias Lindholm — another veteran skater who went quiet in Games 3 and 4 — responded with his second goal of the series in the second period, while also winning 80 percent of his faceoffs.
The Bruins are still staring at a sizable deficit against Buffalo entering Game 6 — especially in a building in TD Garden that has served as a house of horrors for Boston during recent playoff runs.
Since the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Boston is just 3-10 at TD Garden during postseason games.
If the Bruins want to rid their barn of that recent misfortune on Friday night, Pastrnak and Boston’s top players will need to step up once again.
The talent is there. And after Tuesday, so too is the belief.
“That was all our focus — to get the series back to Boston to show our fans again,” Pastrnak said on NESN postgame. “We’re not going to quit. We never quit. We didn’t quit the whole season. We love each other. We’re going to battle till the last drop. We all know what happened last game at home, so we wanted to bring it back.”
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