I know it sounds cliché but this series is a perfect example of why you have to play a full sixty minutes to win a hockey game. The Sabres have had two goal leads in two of the four games and the Bruins have come back to win the games. The Bruins made the adjustments so far in this series and the Sabres didn’t.
The Bruins cashed in on their opportunities last night and the Sabres did not. The Sabres coach, Buffalo media and the Sabres fans can blame the officiating for the loss last night but the officiating was equally poor on both ends of the ice last night. That dog doesn’t hunt in this case.
If anything the officiating has been consistently poor in every game that I have watched. The other night I watched Andrew Ference get a 10 minute misconduct for getting punched and not fighting back. So if anything both team have legitimate complaints about the poor officiating. If anything the level of officiating has degraded and taken a step back this year. It is what it is, the fact remains the Bruins have out played the Sabres for most of this series and that is why the Bruins are on the verge of eliminating the Buffalo Sabres and sending them to the golf course. If it wasn’t for Ryan Miller the Bruins would have won the series 4-0 all ready.
BOSTON — Lindy Ruff's wallet could be a few bucks lighter after he's finished paying a fine for criticizing the officials, but you could understand his frustration after the game Wednesday. A terrible call in the third period shifted momentum to the Bruins and enabled them to crawl back from another two-goal deficit.
Cody McCormick was summoned by Buffalo from Portland to add some much-needed muscle and tenacity, and that's exactly what he provided. He made a great play to set up Tim Kennedy for the first goal. And he was going hard to the net when he was taken off of his feet before slamming into Tuukka Rask, leading to goaltender interference.
Terrible call? Definitely.
Tough break? Yes.
Ruff had a legitimate beef and allowed his emotions to get the better of him, plain and simple. He could blame Drew Stafford for jumping off the bench too soon, which led to Miroslav Satan, of all people, scoring on a power play backhander in the second overtime. All it takes is one bad play, one mental mistake, to cost a team in the postseason.
The Sabres are in a world of trouble after the 3-2 loss in TD Garden. They're staring down the barrel of elimination Friday with the best-of-seven series shifting back to Buffalo. They have lost three straight to the Bruins. They put together their best performance in Game Four, and it wasn't enough.
No, it does not look good.
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