'We never quit': Bruins come up clutch to force Game 6

The Bruins were embarrassed after Sunday's blowout loss on home ice in Game 4, as they should have been. Coach Marco Sturm had no problem calling out Boston's leaders, saying they were the guys who "need to be in charge."

In Game 5, they were. Needing, at the very least, a significantly better effort than Sunday, the Bruins turned in arguably their most complete game of the series and extended their season with a 2-1 overtime win in Buffalo, with David Pastrnak scoring the winner. Game 6 will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Boston.

This one started with Jeremy Swayman. By chewing out his teammates as he exited the ice Sunday after getting hung out to dry for six goals, Swayman put some pressure on himself to deliver in Game 5. You can't call out your teammates one game and then not step up the next, after all.

Swayman delivered Tuesday night. He stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced, including all six high-danger shots. His best sequence came during a two-minute stretch in the middle of the third period, when he denied Tage Thompson on a point-blank chance, turned aside a Rasmus Dahlin one-timer, and then kicked away a Jack Quinn slot shot after a turnover. He robbed Tyson Kozak on a rebound opportunity late in regulation. He made another rebound save on Alex Tuch in overtime shortly before the game-winner.

This one ended with Pastrnak, who scored his second career overtime winner in the playoffs. Pastrnak had rightly come under criticism in recent days. After putting up five points in Games 1 and 2, he had been held off the scoresheet in Games 3 and 4 while posting an ugly minus-5 rating in those games. He heard boos at home after a pair of misplays Sunday.

He was much better in Game 5, even before scoring the winner. He had a game-high seven shots on goals and 12 shot attempts. He looked rejuvenated on a new-look line with Pavel Zacha and Marat Khusnutdinov, the latter of whom was arguably the Bruins' best skater Tuesday. During that trio's 16:12 together at 5-on-5, the Bruins out-attempted the Sabres 19-11, outshot them 9-4, and had five high-danger chances to Buffalo's one.

On the winner, which came 9:14 into overtime, Khusnutdinov made a good defensive play to break up a Buffalo zone entry. Hampus Lindholm collected the loose puck and quickly passed it up to Pastrnak, who was coming right off the bench and had a step on the defense. Pastrnak raced in on Alex Lyon and finished with a nifty forehand tuck around Lyon's left leg.

Lindholm had come under fire as well. He had one of several egregious turnovers that led to a goal against in Sunday's disastrous first period. His minus-5 rating through four games was tied for worst on the team. An alternate captain like Pastrnak, Lindholm responded in Game 5. He had a monster shift leading up to the winning goal, even before the pass to spring Pastrnak. He had helped keep the Sabres away from high-danger areas despite sustained zone time, mixing in a big block and a big hit, both on Peyton Krebs.

The third alternate captain, Charlie McAvoy, stepped up as well. He played a team-high 26:24. He and D partner Jonathan Aspirot, who hadn't been at their best in this series, were on their game Tuesday. During their 5-on-5 shifts, the Bruins out-attempted Buffalo 19-12 and had an expected goals share of 71.5%.

So, too, did Elias Lindholm. He scored Boston's first goal, tying the game midway through the second period when he tracked down his own rebound and fired a spinning wrister past Lyon. Dropped to the third line to start the game, Lindholm earned his way back to a new-look second line, centering Casey Mittelstadt and Morgan Geekie, by the end of this one.

"That was all our focus, to get the series back to Boston, to show our fans again," Pastrnak told NESN after the game. "We are not gonna quit. We never quit. We didn't quit the whole season. We love each other. We're gonna battle till the last drop. We all know what happened last game at home, so we wanted to bring it back."

Mission accomplished in Game 5. Now we'll see if the Bruins can do it again in Game 6 and finally exorcise some of the demons that have haunted them on home ice in the postseason in recent years.