The Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres will play a hockey game tonight. However, the outcome of that game will be the lesser story. Just two days after a horrific bombing at the Boston Marathon, the Sabres and Bruins will face off in downtown Boston, a city trying to recover while existing in a state somewhere between uncertainty, sorrow, and hope. For a people that have been through so much, sporting events like those of the Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins have provided and will provide an outlet for the city to cheer, heal, and forget, if only for a while.
Sabres fans will remember the team serving a similar purpose in 2009 when Continental Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence, NY on the night before a Sabres game. The game the next day served as an incredible release valve for Western New Yorkers, and will go down as one of my most incredible Buffalo sports memories. Though players expect the TD Bank Garden to have a more somber attitude tonight, hopefully this game can provide a similar release for Bruins fans and Bostonians everywhere. Tonight, let’s watch some hockey, and have some fun.
Game #44
Buffalo Sabres (18-19-6) at Boston Bruins (26-11-4)
Puck Drop – 7:30pm – TD Bank Garden – Boston, MA
TV – NBCSN, TSN | Radio – WGR 550-AM
SBNation Bruins Blog – Stanley Cup Of Chowder (Please play nice if you’re going to visit.)
Special Game Note
For many reasons, but mostly just to help those in need, DBTB will be donating $0.10 for every comment in tonight’s Game Thread to One Fund Boston, a charity specifically set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to help those most affected by the tragic events on Monday. So please, stop by the game thread tonight (open at 7pm) and throw in a tank pic, a GIF of Ott licking someone, or anything else you feel like to help drain our wallets for a good cause.
Projected Buffalo Lines
Vanek – Hodgson – Ennis
Flynn – Porter – Ott
Gerbe – Hecht – Kaleta
Scott – Foligno – Stafford
Ehrhoff – Sekera
Pysyk – Pardy
Weber – Ruhwedel
Goal: Ryan Miller
Scratches/Injuries: Adam, Myers, Leino, Sulzer