With backs against the wall, Marco Sturm relying on Bruins leaders for Game 5

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With backs against the wall, Marco Sturm relying on Bruins leaders for Game 5

Lauren Campbell · MassLive

Mon, Apr 27, 2026 ·

2 min read

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BOSTON — With their backs against the wall going back to Buffalo for a win-or-go-home Game 5, the Bruins will turn to their leaders to get them back on track.

“Of course. It starts with me. It starts with the leaders on the ice. Yeah, those are the guys. I can’t expect the young guys to turn the ship and get us out of this,” Marco Sturm said after Boston’s ugly 6-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres .

“So, absolutely. Those are the guys,” he continued. “And again, including me. I need to be in charge.”

The Bruins ’ Game 4 loss put them down 3-1 in the series. Boston had a chance to make it 2-2, but could not get anything going offensively or defensively on Sunday in front of its home crowd.

“I am embarrassed. We all should be,” Sturm said.

Buffalo scored three goals in the span of 4:58 in the first period, and it never got better for Boston after that. The lone Boston goal came from Sean Kuraly with 39.9 seconds left in the game.

The Bruins elected to go into the 2025-26 season without a captain, but named three alternates: David Pastrnak , Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm .

The trio expressed frustration after the loss, but also noted they had confidence in the leadership.

“The leaders here need to lead the way next game and just go out there and try to enjoy it and play that Bruins hockey,” Lindholm said. “And like I said, I am confident that we can win some games, and all we need is to string some together here. But we start with one, and then go from there.”

Pastrnak agreed with his teammate, but noted conversations they have will remain private.

“There’s a lot of words and lot of action out there on the ice,” he said. “It’s something that stays in the room, and we’ll keep it that way.”

Now facing elimination, the Bruins need to learn from Sunday’s loss and quickly move forward for Game 5 in Buffalo on Tuesday night.

“Man-to-man in here, if we’re not (expletive) embarrassed with what just happened, then I don’t know what to say,” McAvoy said. “It’s not over after three. We have everything to play for here. We know we’re such a better team than what we did (Sunday).”

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