Viktor Arvidsson ruled out of Bruins’ Game 5 vs. Buffalo due to injury

“Our life is on the line. We’ve just got to go out there and try to die on the ice.”

Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals in the first four games of this first-round series. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Conor Ryan

April 28, 2026 | 6:43 PM

2 minutes to read

As the Bruins try to keep their season alive on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, Boston’s top-six forward corps will be shorthanded at KeyBank Center.

Speaking ahead of Game 5 of Boston’s first-round series against the Sabres, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said that winger Viktor Arvidsson didn’t make the trip to Buffalo and is out with an upper-body injury.

Arvidsson suffered the injury during Sunday’s blowout loss to Buffalo in Game 4, logging just 3:13 of ice time before missing the final two periods of play.

Losing Arvidsson is a sizable setback for a Bruins team already down 3-1 in this series against Buffalo. He scored two goals in Boston’s Game 2 win against the Sabres and scored 25 goals and 54 total points over 69 games during the regular season.

The fleet-footed winger was one of the main cogs on a Bruins second line with Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt that regularly diced up opponents during regular-season play.

With Arvidsson out, it remains to be seen how Sturm will reshuffle his lines. Boston’s bench boss noted that both Mikey Eyssimont and Alex Steeves will be “ready to go if needed,” while James Hagens could also be in the mix after being scratched in Game 4.

Boston’s reshuffled lines won’t present themselves until warmups begin ahead of Tuesday’s 7:38 p.m. puck drop.

“I think we have good enough players who want to step up their game from last game,” Pavel Zacha said pregame of playing without Arvidsson. “We have a chance for success, and that’s what we need to focus on. All year, there’s been ups and downs. If everyone steps up and plays their game, we’re going to win.”

Sturm is making a switch on the blue line, as former Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju will replace Jordan Harris. Nikita Zadorov — who didn’t practice on Monday due to what Sturm deemed as “maintenance” — could be cleared for Game 5.

“I think that’s our mindset for one game right now – get back to our hockey, get back to our Boston identity, get back to what has been successful through the year. Just play our brand,” Zadorov noted on Tuesday evening from Buffalo. “Everybody saw the result.

“It is a slap to the face and just cannot happen with our team, our organization, our identity. Today we’ve just got to come out and play like it’s the last game of our lives. Like our life is on the line. We’ve just got to go out there and try to die on the ice.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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