![\"Marco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IP4NZKTPRE66BWM6SBIAEBPGZQ.jpg\")
Marco Sturm succeeded in getting the Bruins back to the playoffs in his first season, but the visit lasted just six games.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nThey too often could not establish an effective forecheck \u2014 credit to a slick Buffalo backline \u2014 and, when they did put pucks on net, rarely brought the moxie, presence, and will to the crease as a means of scoring the dirty goals needed for postseason pay dirt.<\/p>\n
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\u201cGoing to the tough areas all year has been a little bit of an issue,\u201d coach Marco Sturm noted in the immediate aftermath of the six-game series loss. \u201cBut we always found ways to score goals . . . five-on-five or else on the power play . . . but what I really noticed, if you look around at the playoffs now, how goals get scored. Everything is in the paint, and for some reason, we didn\u2019t get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
What his team failed to produce, noted Sturm, was \u201cgarbage goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust not enough,\u201d mused the coach, \u201cand if you look at Buffalo, that\u2019s where they scored a lot of goals. That was a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a Bruins team built to score off the rush \u2014 it needs to develop those skilled pass-and-shoot players \u2014 and teams not able to score when wheeling into the zone have to find ways to manufacture goals. The Bruins were without those factory workers.<\/p>\n
Marco Sturm succeeded in getting the Bruins back to the playoffs in his first season, but the visit lasted just six games.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
David Pastrnak, their No. 1 offensive weapon, scored their lone goal. The Sabres moved to the lead only 3:25 into the first, and the Sons of the French Connection finished the series with a substantial advantage in lead time (157:28 to 87:30), an indication of the stranglehold they gained on their old Adams Division rivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t make it hard enough,\u201d said Pastrnak, acknowledging the poor performance at the offensive net. \u201cYou have to create and get the bounces somehow to the net. We didn\u2019t do enough of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding to a question about whether the Bruins are far away from being a Cup contender again, Pastrnak first focused on the high-compete standard in the Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we made the playoffs, but we\u2019re still a wild-card team,\u201d he added. \u201cSo, yeah, we have much, much more to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jeremy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/KYQUAS2SYMFWUZTM6RVLX7NTHY.jpg\")
Jeremy Swayman had a resurgent season, but his team was left to watch the Sabres celebrate on its ice.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
The Bruins now have lost six of nine playoff series since getting KO\u2019d by the Blues in Game 7 of the 2019 Cup Final. They\u2019ll need to find a true No. 1 center, a void since Patrice Bergeron retired three years ago, and add to their blue-line depth to become a serious contender.<\/p>\n
Training camp begins in mid-September. The circle of NHL life, in perpetuity.<\/p>\n
In what was a significant growth season, the six games against Buffalo should give the franchise a true sense of the growth that stil needs to be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that might be part of the reflection in a couple of days. We might look at it a little bit different,\u201d said franchise blue liner Charlie McAvoy. \u201cI don\u2019t know. I think that you could say, you know, we squeezed every drop out of this group, surprised a lot of people. We made it here. It\u2019s not what we wanted. We thought once we got here we could make some noise. We just didn\u2019t play like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was especially true on home ice, their season-long stronghold. They lost all three games here to the Sabres, and were soundly outscored, 13-3.<\/p>\n
Sturm, though understandably not happy with how it ended, said he was pleased by the buy-in he saw across the roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo feel that every day,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s frickin\u2019 amazing, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to meeting postgame with the media, Sturm met with his disappointed charges. What did he tell them?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks, right?\u201d he said. \u201cIt hurts, it absolutely hurts . . . but I also reminded them what kind of season they played. No one thought we would be in the playoff mix. Forget about playoffs, right? Look at us, 100-point season . . . and battled real hard to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next growth ring, what\u2019s needed? More talent or more compete?<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t compete harder than that, I can tell you this,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are gonna sit down and talk about, analyze the season, see where it goes, and what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n