[Open Thread] Buffalo Sabres @ Boston Bruins

       vs        

7:00PM TV:MSG Radio:WGR55

Tonight the Sabres season officially comes to a close and instead of gearing up for the playoffs we are gearing up for the golf course.  Tommorrow will be a nice day to hit the links with the forecast for sun and 60's.  It will be interesting to see what spring is like because we have been spoiled as Sabres fans and have been able to watch playoff hockey for the past couple of seasons.

The Sabres will welcome back some familiar faces to the lineup as Andrew Peters and Michael Ryan are both expected to play along with Jocelyn Thibault in net.  Teppo Numminen will play for the first time all season after undergoing major heart surgery in the off season.  The most interesting part about these players being in the lineup is that I anticipate it being the last game as a Sabres for all of them.

If you haven't registered for a free account yet, please do so now and join us during the game.  The purpose of the open thread is to help build the community here at the site.  As the season has progressed we have developed some regular readership and we hope that continues to grow.  It would be great to really get going tonight and in the final games.

Buffalo Leaders

Goals:Thomas Vanek 33
Assists:Jason Pominville 52
Points:Jason Pominville, Derek Roy 79
Plus/minus:Jason Pominville +16
PIM:Andrew Peters 100

Bruins Leaders

Goals:Marco Sturm 27
Assists:Marc Savard 63
Points:Marc Savard 78
Plus/minus:Zdeno Chara +14
PIM:Zdeno Chara 114

Projected Sabres lines

Vanek-Roy-Stafford
Paille-Hecht-Pominville
Bernier-Gaustad-Ryan
Kaleta-Mair-Peters

Tallinder-Lydman
Sekera-Weber
Numminen-Paetsch