Game #11
Buffalo Sabres (4-4-2) at Boston Bruins (5-7-0)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM ET | TD Garden, Boston MA
TV/Streaming: MSG, ESPN+
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Boston Bruins
Record: 5-7-0 | 10 PTS
Last Game: 5-2 win at home against the New York Islanders
Division Ranking: 8th, Atlantic
PP: 12th, 22.0% (9/41 opps) [Sabres: 13th, 21.9% (7/32 opps)]
PK: 14th, 81.6% (40/49 killed) [Sabres: 1st, 91.2% (31/34 killed)]
What to Watch
1. Beat The Bad Teams
The good teams beat the bad teams. That’s an adage in sports that’s stood as true as time, and can be considered a rite of passage for those looking to make the break through.
The Sabres have been a basement dweller for so long they might have forgotten how to beat bad teams but Thursday evening is an excellent opportunity to learn that. The Bruins are a bad team, and if the Sabres are to make the playoffs this season they need to beat bad teams.
The first time the two teams met at TD Garden less than three weeks ago, Buffalo played what was likely their worst game of the season so far, and were duly beaten 3-1. If they come out flat again tonight they will be faced with a similar result.
2. A Division of Parity
The Atlantic Division appears to be wide open early on. The eight teams are separated by six points. Only two of the octet have more wins than losses. The bottom six are separated by a solitary point.
After years of dominating the division, for various reasons Tampa Bay, Toronto and Florida are looking slightly susceptible. If the Atlantic continues this ‘mediocrity’ while the Metropolitan looks stronger, the only guaranteed playoff spots will be the three divisional ones.
Going on a winning streak and establishing themselves in the top three has never been more feasible than now, can Buffalo step up?
3. The Rubber Meets The Road Ice
This is the Sabres record in their first ten games of the season for the last ten years. What do you notice?
16/17: 4-4-2, 10pts
17/18: 3-5-2, 8pts
18/19: 6-4-0, 12pts
19/20: 8-1-1, 18pts
20/21: 4-4-2, 10pts
21/22: 5-4-1, 11pts
22/23: 7-3-0, 14pts
23/24: 5-5-0, 10pts
24/25: 4-5-1, 9pts
25/26: 4-4-2, 10pts
The Sabres’ average points over that span is 11.2, and maintained across the season would be 92pts, which would be on the lower edge of playoff qualification. However, Buffalo has not made the playoffs in any of those seasons and came closest to that mark with 91 once.
What that tells me is that this is a team that cannot sustain how they start the season let alone actually get better as the season progresses like winning teams do.
The next ten games will be a strong determinant of whether the Sabres can finally end the postseason drought, and that starts with a difficult road game against a division opponent. Coming out strong and finishing the game with the same intensity would be a good display of intent.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
Zach Benson – Jiri Kulich – Tage Thompson
Josh Doan – Ryan McLeod – Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker – Jordan Greenway – Jack Quinn
Josh Dunne – Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn
Defense
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Conor Timmins
Bowen Byram – Michael Kesselring
Goalies: Alex Lyon (projected starter), Colten Ellis
Boston Bruins
Forwards
Marat Khusnutdinov – Elias Lindholm – David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt – Pavel Zacha – Viktor Arvidsson
Morgan Geekie – Fraser Minten – Tanner Jeannot
Michael Eyssimont – Sean Kuraly – Mark Kastelic
Defense
Nikita Zadorov – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Andrew Peeke
Jonathan Aspirot – Henri Jokiharju
Goalies:
Jeremy Swayman, Joonas Korpisalo (confirmed starter)