Game 42
Buffalo Sabres (22-13-6) vs Boston Bruins (23-14-4)
Season series: 2-1 Bruins
- 10/4 – Bruins 4, Sabres 0
- 12/16 – Sabres 4, Bruins 2 (complete coverage)
- 12/29 – Bruins 3, Sabres 2 (OT) (complete coverage)/
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | TD Garden | Boston, MA
TV: MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Bruins blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Know Your Opponent
Boston Bruins
Record: (23-14-4) | 50 points
Last 10: 6-4-0
Division Ranking: 3rd in the Atlantic Division
Conference Ranking: 5th in the Eastern Conference
PP: 4th (27.8%)
PK: 12th (80.5%)
What to Watch
1.) 3rd Place in the Atlantic on the Line
As it stands, the Bruins and Sabres are tied with 50 points at the mid-way point of the season. The winner tonight will take possession (or in Boston’s case, retain possession) of third place in the Atlantic Division. With Jack Eichel sidelined again as he recovers from an upper-body injury, the Sabres will certainly have their work cut out for them against a tough divisional foe on the road.
2.) Bruins’ Reinforcements
The last two times these teams met, Boston was working with badly depleted roster. In the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime victory at KeyBank Center last week, they were without key players in Brad Marchand, David Backes, and defenseman Charlie McAvoy. The game before that, they were missing franchise center, Patrice Bergeron (among others). Marchand has since returned from injury and Backes has served the remainder of his three-game suspension. While McAvoy remains out of the lineup, the Bruins will ice their healthiest roster that the Sabres have faced this season (season opener notwithstanding).
3.) Sabres’ Offensive Production
In Thursday’s victory over the Florida Panthers, the Sabres offense performed much better than expected without Eichel. The boys in blue-and-gold managed to score four times while producing 33 shots on goal. If they hope to regain some ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, they’ll need to rise to the occasion once again. After dropping decisions against Boston and New York in the past week, the Sabres simply cannot afford to lose any more games that could result in a four-point swing.
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Jeff Skinner – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
C.J. Smith – Johan Larsson – Kyle Okposo
Remi Elie – Casey Mittelstadt – Jason Pominville
Conor Sheary – Vladimir Sobotka – Tage Thompson
Defense
Jake McCabe – Rasmus Ristolainen
Lawrence Pilut – Zach Bogosian
Marco Scandella – Rasmus Dahlin
Starting Goaltender: Linus Ullmark (unconfirmed)
Boston Bruins
Forwards
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Ryan Donato–David Krejci–Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly –Noel Acciari–Chris Wagner
Danton Heinen–Colby Cave–Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson
Defense
Zdeno Chara – Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk – Kevan Miller
Torey Krug – John Moore
Starting Goaltender: Tuukka Rask (unconfirmed)