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Hockey fight blog with humorous, blow-by-blow commentary on goons, enforcers and donnybrooks

Hockey fight blog with humorous, blow-by-blow commentary on goons, enforcers and donnybrooks.

Buffalo Sabres

Unacceptable: The Bruins Piss Away Their 100-point Season


in Mark Kastelic, Buffalo Sabres

The Boston Bruins’ 2025-26 season ended in a 4-1 Game 6 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on May 1, 2026, eliminating them from the first round of the NHL playoffs. This post breaks down the catastrophic failure of the Bruins’ top lines, the surprising grit of the fourth line featuring Mark Kastelic, Sean Kuraly, and Tanner Jeannot, and the unforgettable moment Buffalo fans sang the Canadian anthem at KeyBank Center before Game 5.

I’m sitting here in front of a screen displaying a taunting final score.

My head hurts. My soul hurts. The Bruins just got bounced from the playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres in six games, and I can’t stop replaying it.

Unacceptable is the only word I can come up with to describe last night’s series-ending loss to our old Adams Division rival. I don’t want to take anything away from Buffalo here. They’re a good hockey team, and their fan base has been waiting for a playoff series win since 2007 – that’s 19 years of suffering, which is a language we speak fluently in this town. Hats off to them. But where I’m struggling is the math.

How does a team that tied for the league lead with 29 wins at home this year lose all three home games in the playoffs? The stakes don’t get any higher than this. And they were the better team for about a period and a half last night. Then they wound up losing 4-1.

Say it with me.

Unacceptable.

In This Article

The Inexplicable Home Ice Collapse

The Bruins went 29-11-1 at home during the regular season. Tied with Carolina for the best home record in the league. TD Garden was a fortress. Teams hated coming to Boston. The crowd was loud, the ice was fast, and the B’s fed off that energy night after night from October through April.

Then the playoffs started.

Game 3 at home – loss, 3-1. Game 4 at home – loss, 6-1. Game 6 at home – loss, 4-1. Three games on home ice, three losses, and the Sabres treated our barn like they owned the deed to it. Charlie McAvoy said it after Game 6: “It’s not acceptable. I don’t know exactly what it is.” And honestly, I don’t either. I’ve been watching this team for decades and I can’t remember a stretch where the Garden felt that lifeless in the postseason. Maybe I’m blocking it out. Probably am.

You build a 100-point season on the back of a dominant home record. You make the Garden a place where visiting teams don’t want to play. And then you lay three eggs when it counts most.

I don’t have an answer for it.

Game 4 Was a War Crime

Game 4 last Sunday may have been the poorest effort in a playoff game in the history of playoff games.

I know that sounds like hyperbole. It isn’t. The Sabres scored four goals in the first period. Four. At TD Garden. In the playoffs. The building was dead by the second intermission. I was watching from my couch and I wanted to turn it off, and I never turn off a Bruins game. That’s not something I do. But 6-1? In a game where you’re down 2-1 in the series and your season is on the line?

Sean Kuraly scored a shorthanded goal with 40 seconds left to avoid the shutout, and honestly that might have been the most depressing goal I’ve ever been happy about. Like finding a dollar bill in the pocket of a suit you wore to a funeral. Marco Sturm had to have ripped into them after that one.

The practice the next day was apparently heated. Guys were going at each other. Good. They should’ve been pissed. That Game 4 performance was an embarrassment, and if you can’t get angry about it, you don’t belong in the playoffs.

Kasty, Kuraly, and Jeannot Did Their Jobs

I will say this. I was very impressed by Boston’s fourth line.

We touched on this the other day, and I know we’ve been singing Kastelic’s praises all season, but I can’t get enough of a good fourth line. Our buddy Mark Kastelic was especially good in this series. The man played like he had something to prove every single shift. Crash and bang. Hitting everything that moved. Getting under Buffalo’s skin the way a fourth liner is supposed to.

In Game 5 – Boston’s best game of the series, the 2-1 overtime win in Buffalo – Kastelic took a slapper off the instep in the second period. Growing up playing hockey as a defenseman, I’ve taken my fair share of shots off my feet. I can tell you from experience, and if I may quote the great Denis Lemieux, “It hurt like hell!” I’ve never taken a shot in an NHL playoff game off the instep, and I can only picture how much that stung. Kastelic limped off the ice and we all thought, well, thanks for the good time Kasty. No way he’s coming back. Wrong.

He came back. He was his typical self – throwing his body around, winning board battles, doing all the little things that don’t show up on the scoresheet but absolutely show up in the outcome. Sturm said after the game that Kastelic was “completely fine,” which is coach-speak for “that guy is tougher than a two-dollar steak.” And he helped the B’s force a Game 6 with that win.

As for Sean Kuraly and Tanner Jeannot, they were outstanding too. Both guys chipped in goals during the series – Jeannot opened the scoring in Game 3 and scored again in Game 5, and Kuraly grabbed that shorthanded tally in the Game 4 disaster. They did everything they could to stir the pot when given their ice time. If Sturm ripped into the team for a lack of effort, he wasn’t talking to them.

They were Boston’s best line over the six games they played. Full stop.

And that’s the thing about a good fourth line – it reminds you of what this sport is supposed to look like. Guys who don’t have the skill of a Pastrnak or the skating ability of a McAvoy, but who show up every night and play like their careers depend on it. That’s the spirit of the Merlot Line. That’s old time hockey.

The Anthem Moment in Buffalo

I want to thank The Ref for his piece on the anthem singer’s mic cutting out the other night. If you haven’t read it, go check it out.

You might not know The Ref is a dual citizen of both the US and Canada. Let’s put it this way – if you fire up Bob and Doug’s Great White North, he comes running. His favorite non-Tragically Hip song is Take Off. The guy is as Canadian as they come, so I know the moment was especially moving for him.

It happened before Game 5 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Cami Clune was singing O Canada and her microphone just died. Dead air. And the Buffalo fans stepped up and finished singing the Canadian anthem at the top of their lungs. I thought it was really special. Then Clune got a new mic and the fans did the Star-Spangled Banner proud too, singing right along with her.

Hockey fans get a bad rap sometimes. But moments like that remind you why this sport is different.

Watch: Buffalo Fans Finish It Up, Buddy

The Top Guys Went Ghost

We love the fourth line here at Goonblog. But come playoff time, you need the top guys to be a going concern, and for the Bruins, that just wasn’t the case. You can’t win a series when your highest-paid forwards are invisible. The grinders can hit everything that moves and play their hearts out. They can’t score four goals a night. That’s not their job. It’s the job of the guys making the big money, and those guys didn’t deliver.

Pastrnak had one regular-season-looking goal in the whole series. One. That’s not going to cut it.

Watch: Sabres vs. Bruins Game 6 Highlights

I’m not going to pile on here. Well, actually, maybe I am. No – I’ll leave it alone. The season was a hell of a ride and I don’t want to end on a sour note about the guys who got us here. But the fact remains: if your top six doesn’t produce in the playoffs, you’re going home. And we went home.

So Now What?

Overall, I think the playoff run for them was such a surprise that I’m not even mad they’re out. Or maybe I am. I keep going back and forth.

If you’d asked me in the fall where Boston would finish the season, I would’ve said… lottery team. For sure. This roster didn’t look like a playoff team on paper. Then they go and rattle off a 45-27-10 record, a 100-point season, and take the Sabres to six games in round one. Sturm did a hell of a job in his first year behind the bench. The young guys stepped up. Swayman was a Vezina finalist. There’s a lot to feel good about.

But those three home losses are going to eat at me all summer.

So now the Bruins are indeed out. I’m not sure who I’m pulling for to win it all. I’ve got a sneaky feeling about the Minnesota Wild. I feel like they’re the only thing in Minnesota that isn’t fraudulent these days.

Enjoy the hockey, eh? Hopefully we get some rough stuff as the temperature gets turned up in the second round.

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No Mic, No Problem: Buffalo Sabres Fans Belt Out O Canada


in GoonSquad, Buffalo Sabres, Off Topic, The Ref

I was watching the pregame feed from Buffalo last night, waiting for Game 5 to start. Cami Clune was at center ice, ready to sing O Canada.

She got about ten words in before the microphone died. Completely dead air. You could see the panic on her face for a split second. But then something incredible happened. The crowd at KeyBank Center took over.

They sang the rest of the Canadian national anthem at the top of their lungs.

And they knew the words. Every single one of them.

As a Canadian guy who grew up in Ottawa and now lives in Vermont, I can tell you exactly how that felt to watch. It hit hard. You don’t expect 19,000 Americans to know the lyrics to another country’s anthem. You definitely don’t expect them to sing it with that kind of volume. But Buffalo isn’t just any American city, and hockey isn’t just any sport.

Why Buffalo Knows O Canada

The Sabres are unique in the NHL. Most American teams only play the Canadian anthem when a Canadian team is visiting. Buffalo plays it before every single home game, regardless of the opponent.

They do it out of respect for their geography. KeyBank Center is literally five miles from the Canadian border. A massive chunk of the Sabres’ fan base drives over the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie and Southern Ontario for every game. They are a binational franchise in everything but name.

So when that mic cut out, those fans weren’t just being polite. They were singing a song they hear 41 times a year. They own it just as much as we do.

A History of Cross-Border Respect

This isn’t the first time hockey fans have stepped up when the anthem goes sideways. It’s actually a pretty proud tradition in this sport.

Back in 2014, right after the tragic shooting at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, the Pittsburgh Penguins were hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Two American teams. But the Penguins had their legendary anthem singer, Jeff Jimerson, sing O Canada anyway as a tribute. The entire Consol Energy Center sang along.

Buffalo fans sing Canadian anthem

Jimerson actually made a habit of that. He would regularly point the microphone at the Pittsburgh crowd during the Canadian anthem and let them take the chorus. That’s the kind of thing that makes you proud to be a hockey fan.

Of course, it goes both ways. In Toronto, we’ve seen Maple Leafs fans take over the Star-Spangled Banner when the mic failed. There is a mutual respect between these two countries in hockey arenas that you just don’t see anywhere else. It’s the same spirit that makes a Gregory Campbell sweater still get a reaction from the crowd twenty years later.

The Montreal Contrast

I’d be lying if I said last night’s moment in Buffalo didn’t feel a little extra special given what happened a couple of months ago.

If you watched the 4 Nations Face-Off in February 2025, you remember the scene in Montreal. The Bell Centre crowd loudly booed the American national anthem before the US played Finland. It was ugly. It was embarrassing. It made national news for all the wrong reasons.

I hated seeing that. Most Canadians hated seeing that. That’s not who we are.

So to see Buffalo fans step up and belt out O Canada with zero hesitation? That’s the real relationship right there. That’s the hockey community I know. It’s the same reason we still believe the enforcer still has a place in this game – because hockey is about more than just the score. It’s about respect.

The mic might have failed, but the crowd didn’t. Well done, Buffalo. You boys did us proud.

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Ledge is all yours Carolina


in Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Mark Stuart, Pittsburgh Penguins, Shawn Thornton

I’m not sure if it’s because all the Carolina fans are jumping off the ledge, and any that haven’t jumped yet are thinking about it now that Cam Ward is hurt, but I see a lot of Bruins fans coming in off the ledge. I wrote earlier in the week about what they need to get done. Saturday night, they did 2 of the three things. Amazing what happens when the Power Play is working, and playing with a truculent attitude eh? Looks like the blue print for success moving forward.

While it wasn’t exactly a knock down, drag em out affair, it was markedly more physical of a game last night. Shawn Thornton had 2 fights, and Mark Stuart had enough of net crashing late in the third. Unfortunately for Jochen Hecht, he was the target of Stuart’s frustration. Stuart has been physical all year, and I love his ability to fight. He is a very tough kid, and the rest of the league should take notice. If you are going to take liberties on the ice, you may have to deal with Mark Stuart.

steve-montador

Stuart’s fight was very one sided, as was the fight Thornton had with former Bruin Steve Step Brother Montador. Has anyone ever seen Steve Montador, and Will Ferrell in the same room? Anyway, I did not see what started the Thornton and Paul Gaustad fight, but to say Thornton was heated after the tilt is a gross understatement. He was yelling at him louder and with more animation than the bartender of the Makaha after refusing me service on my 6th Mai Tai and my subsequent refusal to go quietly into the night a couple of years ago. The point being, Boston was not pushed around last night, and when they play that way they are tough to beat.

Another good sign was the two PP goals scored by the Black and Gold. Mark Recchi got the party started in typical Wrecking Ball fashion with a trademark tip in while parked in front of the net goal in the first period. Later, Zdeno Chara got off the snide with a blast from the point that went in off a Buffalo defender. It was kind of a greasy goal, but it’s the kind of goal the Bruins weren’t getting a week ago. The bounces just weren’t going their way, and after last night’s game, it appears their luck may have changed.

I’ll give you the fact Buffalo played a goaltender that was making his NHL debut and was giving up rebounds bigger than he should have been, but it’s the fact Boston was putting themselves in the position to exploit said goaltender, and rebounds. Not two weeks ago, they made Yann Danis look like Terry fucking Sawchuk, and they put 98% of the shots on Carey Price the other night in the stupid CH logo on his butt smoking chest. After not giving up Thursday, and playing the kind of Bruins hockey that has made them successful last night, I am ready to say they may have turned the corner on the season, and are pointed in the right direction. With defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh in town Tuesday (riding a 2 game losing streak in which they have given up 10 goals while scoring 2) and playing in Pittsburgh next Saturday, we Bruins fans should get a good reading on where exactly this team stands. In the meantime, Carolina fans, there is plenty of room out on the ledge. I’ll leave the window open.

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Check Your List for Hockey Player for Life


in Buffalo Sabres, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Hockey Player for Life, Howard Shapiro, John Buccigross, Keith Primeau, Off Topic, Uncategorized

I guess since Christmas music is on the radio before Thanksgiving is even here, I should tell you what I am asking MOL to get me for Christmas. She wants a cocktail ring, which I guess is a ring for her right hand? I may go Homer Simpson on her and get her an onion ring. I on the other hand would like a copy of Howard Shapiro’s great new hockey book, Hockey Player for Life.

The story is of an AA player in Canada that can’t miss as the next big thing in the pro game. Apparently he does in fact miss, and the story is that of him reflecting on his past experiences and him realizing he is a Hockey Player for Life. A lot of pro teams have already bought the book, including the Buffalo Sabres, and several other NHL teams as well as several in the AHL, ECHL, and Major Junior ranks. Keith Primeau wrote the forward for the book, as well as John Buccigross provided some quotes for the back cover.

I know growing up playing on the pond and then playing organized hockey for years and years, I have made some fantastic friends, and some of my best memories are hockey related. The love of the game was passed on to me from my father, and should I have any kids, I would like to pass on hockey to them as well. I look back on all the good times, and bad I have had in the 30 years I have been a hockey fan and player (not so much a player in the last few) and I am grateful to everyone that helped me along the way. Mom and dad getting up at zero dark thirty to take me to one rink, and my brother to another, only to cross paths later in the day as we were playing game two, and sometimes three at the same rink. Coaches that gave me encouragement along the way, and tried to harness my sometimes over exuberance while on the ice, family and friends that encouraged me to keep playing after a big loss. My hockey memories stick out for me above else, because I too see myself as a Hockey Player for Life. I will be directing MOL to the links below to buy the book, and check out the really cool YouTube video I posted. Mr. Shapiro has done a great job with this book, and I am looking forward to a stroll down memory lane with Hockey Player for Life.

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Boston, You’ve Been Warned


in AHL, Anaheim Ducks, Barry Melrose, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Derek Boogaard, Florida Panthers, Hal Gill, Los Angeles Kings, Lowell Devils, Lowell Lockmonsters, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Riley Cote, San Jose Sharks, Sean Avery, Shawn Thornton, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tom Rowe, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals

MOL, George, and I went to Feng Shui for a very serious throw down, two Mai Tai’s and the division of Bruins tickets for the upcoming season. If you are in the Chelmsford area, I highly suggest stopping in. In fact, here is a quick ranking of my top 3 local Chinese restaurants.

1. Feng Shui. Chelmsford, MA. Try the General Gau’s shrimp, salt and pepper shrimp, and the house rice. Very strong Mai Tai. Nice buffet on weekends
2. Bamboo. Westford, MA. Johnny is the heat! Strong Mai Tai. Excellent shrimp tempura, salt and pepper pork, and lo mein. Excellent buffet as well.
3. Makaha Acton, MA. Excellent Pu Pu. Mai Tai strong enough to run your car on. Excellent Juke Box. If you’re looking for a dark place to get a Pu Pu and get loadedthis is it. No real redeeming qualities other than they let me drink in there when I was 16.

In keeping with the Public Service spirit, I thought it appropriate to let you know the games in which I have drawn. Reason being, if you are a faithful Goonblog reader, you might want to stop by and say hi, or if you are a faithful Goonblog reader you know what happens at these games when I go, so you might want to avoid being in the City of Boston all together. Should be a great season, and I am getting more pumped by the day. I can almost hear the roar of the Zamboni, OK, the propane whine, of the Zamboni!

I have 9 games on my own. I’ll probably need a date for 8 of them. MOL will go to opening night, and that’s about it for her. Maybe I’ll run a contest. Go to a Bruins game with a guy that is trying to disprove Dean Wormer’s fat, drunk, and stupid theory..that’ll be cool.

George has 10 solo games. We were very surprised how easily the schedule was divided. It just kind of fell into place easily. No arguments at all. Sort of the opposite of MOL and me.

We will both be in the house for 20 games, and are giving away 2 games that neither one of us can attend. It looks like January is going to be a busy month of hockey for me. Between the Bruins, and the Lowell Devils, I will be at 15 hockey games. That’s a lot of hockey. This is going to be great. Breakdown is below.

My solo games in BOLD in case you want to enter my Fat Drunk and Stupid contest.

Oct. 20th. Opening night. Penguins. Probably MOL’s only appearance of the season. Come see her in all her glory.

Oct. 23rd. Maple Leafs. George wasn’t too happy about this one. He saw every Leafs Bruins tilt last year, and admitted the 10-1 or 10 something loss the Bruins took at the hands of Toronto was the only time he’s ever left a game early. Can’t blame him. I was there too, and I left early.

Nov. 1. Stars. Sean Avery is a shit disturber, and I love it.

Nov. 6th. Leafs. George couldn’t take it (seeing the Leafs again), so I took one for the team here.

Nov. 13th. Canadiens. Now way either one of us was missing the Habs, or Georges Laraque’s debut in the Garden as a Canadien. This one will be electric.

Nov. 28th. Islanders. I love the annual day after Thanksgiving game. Kinger and I had a blast two years ago. MOL might actually want to come to this one.

Dec. 8th. Lightning. I am interested in seeing Steve Stamkos.

Dec. 18th. Maple Leafs. See what I mean? George hates the Leafs.

Dec. 20th. Hurricanes. I am happy Tom Rowe has a job in the NHL. There are still a few faces left on this roster from the old Lockmoster days.

Jan. 1st. Penguins. MOL and I were going to Chicago, but decided a trip to Florida for a couple of Bruins games was probably a better idea. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year than by watching the Bruins and Penguins slug it out. The last time I went to a game on New Year’s Day was against Philadelphia a few years ago. Dave, MOL and I went, and I assure you. It did not end well.

Jan. 3rd. Sabres. Not sure why I agreed to go to this game. I have an unexplained and unnatural hatred of the Buffalo Sabres. Not sure why.

Jan. 6th. Wild. Boogieman. That’s the reason I’m here.

Jan. 8th. Senators. This is going to be an interesting club this season. Eager to see how they react after all that has happened to them over the last season. Jason Spezza, when he wants to be, is a God.

Jan. 10th. Hurricanes. Love the Matinee.

Jan. 13th. Canadiens. Hopefully the bad blood is really boiling by now.

Jan. 27th. Capitals. If you have never seen Alex Ovechkin live, I highly suggest doing so. You can’t take your eyes off of him.

Jan. 31st. Rangers. Original Six matinee. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Feb. 10th. Sharks. Joe’s second trip as a Shark. His first one was short lived, but a great performance. If you remember, he got kicked out very early for boarding Hal Gill. Questionable call at best. I just don’t like Gill, so I was cheering wildly. Pretty sure the people in my section didn’t like it.

Feb. 24th. Panthers. What else is there to do on a Tuesday in February?

Feb. 26th. Ducks. George Parros and his awesome Porn ‘stache in the house. Can’t miss it.

Feb. 28th. Capitals. A matinee and the Caps?! I can’t lose!

Mar. 3rd. Flyers. Shawn Thornton and Riley Cote. I am looking forward to these guys having a go.

Mar. 5th. Coyotes. Probably my most anticipated game of the year. Todd Fedoruk, Brian McGratton, and Daniel Carcillo all on the same club? This could be my Center Ice West Coast team of the season.

Mar. 14th. Islanders. Nothing better to do.

Mar. 19th. Kings. This should be another interesting team. Revolving door in goal. Some decent talent in Dan Boyle, and Teddy Purcell possibly coming in. Very young on defense. Really could go either way.

Mar. 31st. Lightning. Barry Melrose will field a scrappy team. No doubt.

Apr. 2nd. Senators. We’ll know by this point if the Senators have put all their troubles behind them.

Apr. 4th. Rangers. Original Six matinee. Can’t miss it.

Apr. 14th. Canadiens. Great way to end the regular season.

So, there it is. I am really looking forward to this year. It should be awesome. I may need a good divorce lawyer after as that is a lot of hockey. I think MOL understands the psychosis by now though. Let’s get it on.

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