Series Shifts to Boston
Boston Bruins (1-1) at Buffalo Sabres (1-1)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM | TD Garden | Boston, MA
TV: TNT, HBO Max, and MSG
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Boston Bruins
Record: 45-27-10 | 100 PTS
Division Ranking: 4th in the Atlantic Division
Last Game: Won against the Sabres 4-2
PP: 25.0% | Sabres 0%
PK: 100% | Sabres 75.0%
What to Watch
1. Lineup Changes
The key story for Game of this series is that the Sabres appear to be making a few changes to their lineup from Games 1 and 2.
The first and perhaps most important one is that Alex Lyon will likely start in place of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tonight. With how Game 2 played out and Lyon’s strong numbers on the road this season, it’s not much of a surprise here.
This next sentence also shouldn’t surprise you. Josh Norris is hurt again. Lindy Ruff indicated he’s not available for tonight and is considered day-to-day. Noah Ostlund will return to the lineup in his place between Josh Doan and Zach Benson.
It also looks as though Tyson Kozak will rotate in over Josh Dunne to center the fourth line tonight.
2. Score First
The Sabres have led for all of five minutes of this series. It has allowed the Bruins to dictate the pace of the game for long stretches so far. Boston did a good job of getting the Sabres crowd out of the game, and they need to return the favor tonight.
The Bruins are one of the best home teams in the league this season, with 29 wins. Don’t allow them to settle into their game once again and make it another game of chasing.
3. Special Teams
This will remain a talking point until the Sabres do something about it. The Bruins are not afraid to clog things up, hold, or be overly physical because the Sabres power play will not make them pay for it. They haven’t scored in their last 31 opportunities dating back to the regular season.
On the other side, the Sabres penalty kill will have to continue to do its best, holding off the Bruins’ power play. There’s no room right now for the penalty kill unit to falter, with the power play being useless and the difficulty scoring at 5 on 5.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards:
Krebs – Thompson – Tuch
Benson – Ostlund – Doan
Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
Greenway – Kozak – Malenstyn
Defense:
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Byram – Power
Stanley – Timmins
Goalies:
Lyon, Luukkonen
Boston Bruins
Forwards:
Geekie – Lindholm – Pastrnak
Mittelstadt – Zacha – Arvidsson
Hagens – Minten – Khusnutdinov
Jeannot – Kuraly – Kastelic
Defense:
Aspirot – McAvoy
H. Lindholm – Lohrei
Zadorov – Peeke
Goalies:
Swayman, Korpisalo