The Bruins have taken leads in all three games and letting them slip in the final frame in both of their losses.
“Just move on. Go to the next game, start thinking about that,” left wing Tanner Jeannot said. “We will see what we need to do, what we need to change, and continue building our game. It’s a long series, and we’re not giving up, that’s for sure. We are going to be fighting for the home crowd again.”
First-year coach Marco Sturm is expected to have a different lineup coming out of the extra rest day. James Hagens, the Bruins’ 2025 first-round draft pick who made his NHL debut on April 12, is likely to draw out in favor of Lukas Reichel.
Hagens, who played in just two regular-season games after being recalled from AHL affiliate Providence, has teamed up with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov on what Sturm has dubbed the “kid line.”
“Consistency is the hardest part for those young kids, it really is,” Sturm said. “You need the experience and you need those games to go through it. And that’s where we’re at right now. Can they stay consistent? Yeah, there was a little drop [in Game 3]. It’s hard in the playoffs.”
Here’s the preview.
When: Sunday, 2 p.m.
Where: TD Garden, Boston
TV: HBO Max, NESN, TNT, truTV. Radio: WBZ-FM 98.5.
Line: Boston -110. O/U: 6.0.
SABRES
Season record: 52-24-9. vs. spread: 49-36. Over/under: 39-42, 4 pushes
Last 10 games: 6-3-1. vs. spread: 6-4. Over/under: 4-5, 1 push
BRUINS
Season record: 46-29-10. vs. spread: 56-29. Over/under: 44-39, 2 pushes
Last 10 games: 3-5-2. vs. spread: 7-3. Over/under: 2-7, 1 push
TEAM STATISTICS
Goals scored: Buffalo 283, Boston 268
Goals allowed: Buffalo 240, Boston 247
Power play: Buffalo 19.5%, Boston 23.4%
Penalty minutes: Buffalo 797, Boston 978
Penalty kill: Buffalo 81.9%, Boston 76.9%
Faceoffs won: Buffalo 45.9%, Boston 53.1%
Stat of the day: Tanner Jeannot scored his first career playoff goal in Game 3.
Notes: If the Sabres prevail, they would have a chance to finish the series on home ice. Game 5 is Tuesday in Buffalo. … Alex Lyon provided steady goaltending in his first start of the series, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced. He also denied Viktor Arvidsson’s penalty shot in the second period. “We came [into Game 3] with a great mindset and you could feel it in the room, that we were just going to send it for 60 minutes and kind of that’s all you can do, you know?” Lyon said. “The team gave me confidence, and we played desperately, so it was good.”
Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.
