Perhaps reality is starting to sink in for the Boston Bruins.
After riding emotional highs in their Game 7 overtime thriller against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Game 1 triumph over the Florida Panthers, the Bruins look outmatched against the top team in the Atlantic Division.
Jeremy Swayman again did everything he could to bail his team out. But coming off a heated ending of their Game 2 blowout in Sunrise, the Bruins struggled to support their fourth-year netminder at every area of the ice.
By the opening 20, the tensions had simmered. There was little carryover from the scrappy moments at the end of Wednesday’s tilt, highlighted by David Pastrnak’s bout with Matthew Tkachuk.