- McAvoy ejected with 1:31 left after a baseball-swing slash on Zach Benson
- Hit with a five-minute major and a game misconduct as the Bruins bowed out 4-1
- Read below for full details, video of the slash, and what’s next for McAvoy
The Bruins didn’t go quietly. With their season slipping away in Game 6, Charlie McAvoy made one last statement, and it was an ugly one.
With 1:31 left in regulation and Boston pushing for a way back into a 4-1 game, McAvoy chased down a Sabres icing. He beat Buffalo’s Zach Benson to the puck, but Benson clipped his feet from behind and sent him crashing into the end boards.
McAvoy got up swinging. He brought his stick down on Benson with both hands, baseball-style, then threw a right cross that touched off a scrum.
Benson skated to the penalty box and laughed at him through the glass.
Here’s how it looked:
The officials sorted it out fast. McAvoy got a five-minute major for slashing and a game misconduct, ending his night and his season. Benson took a two-minute minor for tripping.
If the NHL Department of Player Safety hands down any supplemental discipline, it would carry into the start of the 2026-27 season since Boston’s campaign is done.
The 4-1 score held. So did the result.
Buffalo wrapped the series in six and advanced to the second round for the first time since 2007. That year the Sabres lost to Ottawa in the Eastern Conference Final. This time they’ll meet the winner of Tampa Bay and Montreal, with Game 7 set for Sunday.
McAvoy finished the series with two assists in six games. David Pastrnak scored Boston’s lone goal on Friday and was the only Bruin with more than two goals across the entire series, an offensive shortage that helped seal the team’s exit.
Game 6 highlights video below:
Not the way McAvoy wanted to close the book. The league will have its say once the new season starts.
