BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins]' (2-4) season came to an end inside TD Garden on Friday night. The Buffalo Sabres [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres] (4-2) knocked off the Bruins X-X, clinching a first-round series victory. The win ends the Bruins' season, and hands them their sixth-straight home loss inside TD Garden. The Bruins trailed 2-1 entering the third period, with life and a chance to come back. The nerves in Boston heading into the third period couldn't have been any higher. The Bruins came out with their hair on fire. Boston pounded seven of the first eight shots on net, pushing hard for an equalizer. The Bruins had an offensive-zone face-off with just over six minutes into the third period. They won the draw. Hampus Lindholm went for a drop pass to David Pastrnak on the blue line. The puck instead kicked through his skates. Josh Doan, known for his elite speed, raced down the ice and won the puck. Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy collapsed on him, which left Zach Benson wide-open in the slot to slap in the dagger goal. Boston could not recover from that goal. Despite a strong push, Josh Norris' empty-netter with 3:20 to go solidified the inevitable. Jeremy Swayman played well, but ultimately could not save the Bruins tonight. He made 22 saves while allowing three goals. Alex Lyon made 25 saves in the victory. How It Happened: The first period looked all too familiar to Game 4 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins/game-day/sabres-annihilate-bruins-in-boston-take-3-1-series-lead] for the Bruins. The Sabres ran over Boston early, including scoring just 3:25 into the contest from Alex Tuch. Tuch's goal quieted what began as a raucous TD Garden crowd, which only grew in frustration as Buffalo poured pucks and pressure on. Past the midway point of the period, Mattias Samuelsson scored his second goal of the series, a seeing-eye shot through a sea of bodies that included 6'7 Tage Thompson and 6'7 Nikita Zadorov. It felt like the game was quickly slipping through Boston's hands, especially after Lyon robbed Elias Lindholm in tight late in the first. Buffalo outshot Boston 12-6 in the first period. However, the Bruins, just like they have all year, fought back and didn't go down easy. Less than two minutes into the second, David Pastrnak blasted home a one-timer to make it a one-goal game. The second period went a lot better in total, with Boston outshooting Buffalo 8-7, but still trailing 19-14 in the game after two frames. Boston started hot, but Benson's goal proved their undoing. In the dying minutes, chants of "Let's Go Buffalo" rang around TD Garden as a swath of Bruins fans headed home. Then, Zach Benson slew-footed Charlie McAvoy and McAvoy went hard at him with a strong two-handed slash up high, earning himself an ejection to end his season. The 2025-26 Bruins had a great year, all things considered. They exceeded expectations, but unfortunately, it just wasn't enough to beat the Sabres.
