After taking a second straight home loss in “embarrassing” fashion, the Boston Bruins are on the brink of elimination as the scene of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series shifts back to Buffalo.

The Sabres will look to land the knockout punch against their Atlantic Division rivals and earn their first playoff series win since 2007 in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Buffalo’s 6-1 win in Game 4 on Sunday quickly became a laugher. Four first-period goals were more than enough, and Alex Lyon was 39.9 seconds away from shutting out the Bruins in his second straight start in the series.

“We have an extremely high-competitive group. We all have a standard that we all carry ourselves to — and it wasn’t met,” said Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who appeared to yell at his teammates while exiting the bench after being relieved by Joonas Korpisalo in the third period.

The Bruins have never come back from a 3-1 series deficit (0-25) and the Sabres have never let such a lead slip away (7-0) in each franchise’s playoff history.

While history certainly does not favor Boston, the series is not over yet.

“As far as I know, you have to win four games to move on. So they’ve got three. That means we still have a chance,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm told reporters after Sunday’s game. “I can cry about it, but I also have to push my guys for the next game and make sure our intensity is gonna be there.”

“We have a one-game mission,” Sturm added on Monday.

Buffalo’s dominant start on Sunday made Lindy Ruff one happy coach, and not just because his team scored the opening goal for the first time in the series and built a commanding lead.

“That first period was the best period we played all year,” Ruff said. “Puck pressure, scoring opportunities. We moved the puck and got the puck up ice. We didn’t spend much time in our end.”

On Sunday, six different Sabres scored goals, with four of them adding an assist as well.

One shining star in the series has been defenseman Bowen Byram, whose tally at the end of the four-goal frame marked his third in the last three games. He finished the game plus-3.

“He’s obviously been awesome all year and has brought it to another level in the playoffs,” said Owen Power, Byram’s defense partner. “It’s nice having him and all the other guys in here that have some playoff experience to lean on and have them help lead us.”

Byram won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.

Power, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch have all notched points in all four games of the series, with Power and Krebs logging those streaks to begin their playoff careers. Krebs scored the first goal just 4:17 into Sunday’s game.

The rock-solid team effort has extended to the net, where Lyon took over for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in relief in Game 2 and has since posted a league-best .964 save percentage in the playoffs.

The vibes are good in Buffalo, but the message is clear: The Sabres still have to finish.

“We’ve done a good job in this series, but the fourth one is always the hardest,” Byram said of the challenge of closing.

The Bruins had to shuffle their Monday practice lines with forward Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Nikita Zadorov both off for maintenance days. Arvidsson left Game 4 due to an upper-body injury and did not return.

“We still have to check with medical, but we have to wait until probably (Tuesday) on both of them,” Sturm said of both players’ status.

Ruff expects Buffalo forwards Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak — who both missed time in Sunday’s third period — to be available going forward.

–Field Level Media

Paige Bueckers and WNBA No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd are teammates again in Dallas, but the status of their relationship isn’t relevant to the Wings’ outlook in 2026.

The pair of former UConn teammates, who have been the team’s first-round picks in the last two WNBA drafts, announced that they were in a romantic relationship last July, months after winning the 2025 national championship with the Huskies.

When Fudd was asked about the relationship at her introductory press conference earlier this month, a member of the Wings’ public relations staff did not allow her to answer, stating that “We’re going to respectfully decline from commenting on our players’ personal lives.”

Bueckers said Monday, three days before Dallas’ preseason opener vs. Indiana on April 30, her focus is on basketball.

“There is something I want to address, and I only plan on addressing it once. If we continue to get asked about it, we will refer to this moment in time or use the time to deflect and talk about our teammates,” Bueckers said at Dallas media day. “‘Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own. And what we choose to share is completely up to us. … Me and Azzi have always been utmost professionals. We’ve always conducted ourselves as such. We’ve never let anything that happens off the court carry onto the court, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Bueckers, the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, also made it clear that she had nothing to do with the selection of Fudd.

“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it,” Bueckers said. “It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, as a basketball player, her resilience, her strength and her career-best year at UConn.

“Azzi is a great individual person, her own great individual person, and should be celebrated as such.”

Fudd averaged a career-best 17.3 points, 3.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game last season, making 48.1% of her shots and 44.7% of her 3-pointers as the Huskies, who were 38-0 before their Final Four loss to South Carolina.

–Field Level Media

Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson could write his name in the franchise record book when the visiting Tigers open a three-game series against the red-hot Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.

Torkelson matched the franchise mark by hitting a home run in his fifth consecutive game on Sunday against Cincinnati. Another blast would also make him the first major leaguer with a six-game home run streak since Rafael Devers in 2024.

“Just seeing the ball well and just proud of the way I’ve stuck with my plan and my approach and putting my A-swing on a lot of pitches,” Torkelson said.

Torkelson tied Hank Greenberg, Rudy York, Vic Wertz, Willie Horton and Marcus Thames for the franchise record when he took Pierce Johnson deep in the seventh inning on Sunday.

Over the last six games, the first baseman is batting .409 (9-for-22) with five homers and six RBIs. He didn’t have a home run this season before the streak began.

“When my approach is right, I feel like I can hit everything without really trying to hit everything,” Torkelson said.

Torkelson will face Atlanta left-hander Martin Perez (1-1, 2.70 ERA) in the series opener. The Tigers will send right-hander Casey Mize (2-1, 2.51) to the mound.

Atlanta comes off winning two of three from Philadelphia. It became the first team to 20 wins with Sunday’s 6-2 win in the rubber match.

Detroit beat the Reds 8-3 on Sunday to salvage one win from their three-game series.

The Braves have swept their three-game series against the Tigers in each of the last two seasons.

Perez has made five appearances (three starts) this season. In his most recent start on April 17, he tossed six scoreless innings against the Phillies. In his last outing on Wednesday, he worked three innings of relief against Washington.

Perez has made 18 appearances (16 starts) in his career against the Tigers, going 2-7 with a 5.12 ERA. He made three appearances (two starts) against Detroit last year while a member of the Chicago White Sox and went 0-2 with a 5.27 ERA in 13 2/3 innings.

With the emergence of rookie JR Ritchie and the impending return of Spencer Strider, the Atlanta rotation is in flux.

Perez, Ritchie and Bryce Elder will start against the Tigers, with Reynaldo Lopez temporarily moving to the bullpen “for now,” according to Atlanta manager Walt Weiss, to work out a mechanical flaw in his delivery. Lopez allowed four runs in one-plus inning during his last start against Washington on April 21.

“Our rotation right now, to be honest with you, is series to series,” Weiss said. “I gave you the rotation for the Tigers, but we go to Colorado, I believe, after that and we don’t know what it’s going to be there. It’s series to series with the rotation right now.”

Mize will make his sixth start and has won his last two decisions, most recently a 5-2 victory over Milwaukee last Wednesday. He pitched six innings and allowed one run against the Brewers and has given up only two runs over the last 18 1/3 innings. Mize has allowed one or fewer runs in four of his appearances.

Mize has never beaten the Braves, going 0-2 with a 4.66 ERA. He faced Atlanta one time in 2025 and took the loss after giving up three runs in 5 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media