Meanwhile, the Sabres are looking to leapfrog the Devils for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. While the Bruins haven’t lost to Buffalo, the Sabres still pose a difficult challenge for the struggling Bruins.
There are still plenty of games left in the season and the Bruins should get a boost on Friday with the return of center Marc Savard. But with the Olympic break on the horizon and the Bruins now battling for the final spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs, every game is huge and a big win over one of the NHL’s elite teams would be a huge confidence boost for a team sorely lacking in that area.
WHEN AND WHERE
Friday, Jan. 29, 7:30 (NESN)
HSBC Arena Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS
Bruins (23-20-8, 54 points, fourth place in Northeast Division, 11th place in Eastern Conference)
Sabres (31-14-7, 69 points, first place Northeast Division, third place Eastern Conference)
HEAD TO HEAD
The Bruins are 2-0-0 against the Sabres this season, winning 4-2 at the TD Garden on Nov. 7 and then 2-1 in overtime at HSBC Arena on Nov. 20.
The Sabres and Bruins play again on Feb. 9 at Buffalo and on March 29 and April 8 at the TD Garden.
The Bruins lead the lifetime series 69-40-14-1.
SKINNY
The return of Savard should help the Bruins on and off the ice and hopefully spark their woeful power play. Savard’s teammates and head coach Claude Julien are excited to get him back in the lineup and around the dressing room.
"He's always been that kind of a teammate in the room where he keeps things loose," Julien explained. "[But] when the puck gets dropped, he's a pretty competitive individual. However it's perceived at times, he's a proud competitor.
"[It's nice] to have him around and know that when the chips are down, he's ready to go. And then when you have days like these, he can also keep the guys a little bit loose and still having fun. This is as important as anything else. It's a little heavy right now, but if you don't have fun going to work, I don't think you're as productive."
Meanwhile, Sabres center Tim Connolly has had an injury riddled career, but thankfully for the Sabres, the skilled playmaker has kept healthy this season and leads the team in points and assists. One of the keys to Connolly’s success has been his reunion with his former linemates Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht.
"Since our old line has been put back together — Hecht, Pominville and myself — I think we've found some chemistry and been able to capitalize on it," Connolly told the Buffalo News. "We've just got to continue to work and try and improve in all the little areas, score even more goals and play better defensively."
Pominville has scored a point in nine of the 15 games in which this line has been back together. In that time, he has registered six goals and eight assists, and Hecht has a point eight of those games, with seven goals and five assists.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Bruins
Forwards
Milan Lucic–Marc Savard–Miroslav Satan
Daniel Paille–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Steve Begin/Byron Bitz–Vladimir Sobotka –Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Derek Morris
Matt Hunwick–Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart–Johnny Boychuk/Adam McQuaid
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Sabres
Forwards
Jochen Hecht–Tim Connolly–Jason Pominville
Thomas Vanek–Derek Roy–Adam Mair
Matt Ellis–Tim Kennedy–Mike Grier
Drew Stafford–Paul Gaustad–Patrick Kaleta
Defensemen
Tyler Myers–Henrik Tallinder
Craig Rivet–Chris Butler
Nathan Paetsch–Andrej Sekera
Goaltenders
Ryan Miller
Patrick Lalime
GOALTENDER MATCHUP
Bruins
Tim Thomas is 13-14-6 with a 2.53 GAA and a .915 save percentage. Thomas has four shutouts. In Sunday's 5-1 loss to Carolina, Thomas allowed four goals on 15 shots and was pulled.
Tuukka Rask is 10-6-2 with a 2.14 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Rask allowed one goal on five shots in relief of Thomas Sunday. He is third in the NHL in GAA and is fifth in save percentage. Rask has two shutouts and has lost his last three starts.
Sabres
Ryan Miller is a Vezina and Hart Trophy candidate with a 28-11-5 record. He is second in the NHL with a 2.06 GAA and is first overall with a .934 save percentage. Miller also has five shutouts this season. He made 39 saves and stopped Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner in the first two rounds of Wednesday’s 2-1 shootout win over New Jersey.
Patrick Lalime is 3-2-2 with a 3.11 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Lalime’s last start was a 4-3 shootout loss to Colorado on Jan. 9 but he made a relief appearance in Anaheim on Jan. 19.
STAT SHEET
Bruins
Patrice Bergeron has two points in the three games he’s played since returning Jan. 18 from a two-week stint on injured reserve with a broken thumb. He leads the team in points (12 goals, 21 assists) with 33.
Blake Wheeler had an assist in Sunday's loss to Carolina and is now second on the team with 29 points. Wheeler has 12 goals and 17 helpers.
David Krejci scored the Bruins’ lone goal on Sunday and now has nine lamp-lighters and 27 points this season.
Zdeno Chara leads the team in assists with 24. Chara also leads the defense in points with 28.
Derek Morris assisted on Krejci’s goal on Sunday and now has 18 helpers and 21 points.
The Bruins' penalty kill had a rare bad game on Sunday, allowing four Carolina power-play goals on eight Hurricanes power plays. The unit has allowed 23 goals on 183 power plays faced and is second in the NHL with an 87.4 percent success rate.
The Bruins' power play was a horrid 0-for-8 Sunday and is 0-for-20 over its last eight games. It is 29-for-167 with a 17.4 percent success rate this season.
Sabres
Tim Connolly had a 16-game point-streak snapped on Wednesday. Connolly had 25 points in those 16 games and leads the team in points with 48 and in assists with 35.
Derek Roy is second on the team in points with 37 and in assists with 26. He had a helper in the Sabres’ 2-1 shootout win on Wednesday.
Jason Pominville is tied for second on the team in points with 37. Pominville has 14 goals and 23 assists.
Defenseman Tyler Myers is a candidate for the Calder Trophy with 30 points. He leads the Sabres' defense in assists with 23.
The Sabres' power play was 1-for-3 on Wednesday and is 38-for-208 this season with a 18.3 percent success rate.
The Sabres' penalty kill has allowed only three goals on the last 58 power plays it has faced. It has allowed only 23 goals on 178 power plays faced and is ranked third in the NHL with a 87.1 percent success rate.
BLACK AND BLUE
Bruins
Andrew Ference skated on his own prior to practice on Thursday but is still expected to be out until after the Olympics with an injured groin.
Steve Begin has missed the last four games with an undisclosed injury but has practiced with the team the last two days and is a game-time decision.
Byron Bitz practiced with the team again on Thursday and is a game-time decision.
Marco Sturm practiced Thursday for the first time since hurting his leg Jan. 14 but will miss his sixth consecutive game on Friday with a leg injury.
Sabres
No injuries to report.
THIS DAY IN BRUINS HISTORY
On Jan. 29, 2004, Glen Murray scored twice, including the winning goal at 2:25 of overtime to give the Bruins a 2-1 win against the visiting New York Islanders. The two goals gave Murray 500 points in his NHL career.
OVERHEARD
"I think this week was good for everyone and we got to clear our heads and focus, [but] now it's time get back at it and get this thing turned around. I am not using injuries as an excuse, but I'm telling you, this isn't the team we are. We're going to turn this thing around. I really believe that. I signed here because I believe in this team. It's been a tough year, but there's still time to try and make something of this."
–Bruins forward Mark Recchi
PRESS BOX
Bruins
Mark Recchi added another highlight to his storied career.
Marco Sturm is practicing again and Andrew Ference is skating
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli is trying to make a trade.
Sabres
Toni Lydman is not happy about being benched.
Ryan Miller’s performance on Wednesday had to make not only the Sabres but Team USA happy.
Waived earlier in the season, Adam Mair is playing better hockey and scored his first goal of the season Wednesday.
NHL
The NHL intends to crack down on headshots … seriously.
Here’s a look at what will really determine where Ilya Kovalchuk ends up.
Carey Price and Andrei Markov have made up.
OUTLOOK
This week, the Bruins have been talking a lot about simplifying things and going back to basics on the ice in an effort to snap out of their slump. That’s exactly what they need to do on Friday if they hope to have any chance against the division-leading Sabres. The Sabres are fast and strike quickly on offense, so the Bruins will need to make tight crisp passes through the neutral zone and play responsible hockey. If they don’t, it could be a long night.
Boston will also have to take whatever chances it can get on Ryan Miller, who is arguably the best goalie in the NHL right now. Creating traffic in front and creating lanes for the defenseman to shoot pucks through will be essential.
