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Bruins pushed to brink of elimination with lopsided Game 4 loss to Sabres
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- Bruins pushed to brink of elimination with lopsided Game 4 loss to Sabres
BOSTON — The Bruins now have their backs against the wall.
Boston fell to the Buffalo Sabres , 6-1, on Sunday afternoon in Game 4 at TD Garden to push the team to the brink of elimination.
The Sabres took a 3-1 series lead with the win and are in complete control as the series shifts back to Buffalo.
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Buffalo came out blazing with eight shots on net to Boston's one in the first five minutes.
Three Buffalo goals in 4:58 set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Sabres drew first blood 4:17 into the game when Peyton Krebs capitalized on a rough turnover by Fraser Minten after Charlie McAvoy missed Jonathan Aspirot D-to-D.
Buffalo doubled its lead three minutes later when Hampus Lindholm turned the puck over and Josh Doan put it by Jeremy Swayman for the 2-0 edge.
Things didn't get better for the Bruins as Zach Benson made it 3-0 two minutes later on another Boston turnover.
Buffalo continued to dominate a lifeless Bruins team and made it 4-0 with 5:36 to go in the first when Bowen Byram scored for the third straight game.
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The Bruins got booed off the ice as the period ended and were outshot, 19-5.
Lukas Reichel had a prime opportunity to get the Bruins on the board with a wide-open net but he whiffed on the pass from Pavel Zacha to begin the second period.
Nikita Zadorov laid a big hit on Jack Quinn to inject life back into the TD Garden crowd, and the team had some opportunities to score but came up short whether it was because they hit the post or just refused to shoot on Alex Lyon , including Morgan Geekie not taking a shot on an open net.
The Bruins went on the power play with 4:01 left in the second but couldn't take advantage with the extra skater.
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The score remained the same after 40 minutes of play.
Things only got harder for Boston when Buffalo made it a 5-0 game 4:58 into the third when Beck Malenstyn tipped the puck by Swayman.
Alex Tuch scored 90 seconds later to widen the lead to 6-0, prompting Marco Sturm to pull Swayman and put in Joonas Korpisalo .
Things got chippy with just over three minutes left when Zadorov crosschecked Rasmus Dahlin and punched him in the head. A scrum ensued and the officials spent several minutes sorting out penalties.
Sean Kuraly , with 39.9 seconds left in the game, scored Boston's lone goal.
The Bruins heard boos from those still in attendance as they handed Game 4 to the Sabres.
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Game 5 is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Buffalo. The Bruins must win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
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