The Bruins will ring in the New Year with a new look in goal against a familiar foe in Buffalo on Saturday.
The Bruins didn't hold a morning skate on Saturday, but coach Claude Julien confirmed to reporters on Friday that Tuukka Rask would finally get a start.
Rask has not played for seven straight games, with his last appearance coming back on Dec. 15 against these same Sabres in Buffalo. Rask stopped 32 of 35 shots that night, but Buffalo won 3-2 behind a hat trick from Drew Stafford, dropping Rask to 2-7-1 with a 2.57 GAA and a .927 save percentage.
Rask will have to deal with Stafford again, but he won't have to worry about Sabres' leading scorer Derek Roy, who is out for the season with a torn left quad. Roy's 35 points were 10 more than anyone else on Buffalo's roster, leaving a major void on a Sabres squad that was already just 20th in the NHL in scoring (2.57 goals a game).
Buffalo will get center Tim Connolly back after missing four games with a broken nose that required surgery. He'll center the top line in Roy's spot alongside Bruins killer Thomas Vanek (20-18-38 in 37 career games vs. Boston). Rookie Luke Adam was initially on that line as well, but the Buffalo News reported that Jason Pominville rounded out that unit Friday in practice.
The Sabres will also get defenseman Tyler Myers back after last year's rookie of the year missed two games with the flu. Either captain Craig Rivet or former Bruin Shaone Morrisonn will be the scratch to make room for Myers. Mike Weber normally would have been an option to sit, but he scored his first two career goals in Buffalo's last game in Edmonton on Tuesday. He added an assist, three hits and five blocked shots while playing a team-high 21:00 in Buffalo's 4-2 win over the Oilers, which should be enough to secure his spot in the lineup for a while.
Chris Butler is expected to be the other healthy scratch on defense, while the Bruins won't have to worry about Buffalo superpest Patrick Kaleta, as the agitator suffered an upper-body injury on Tuesday and is expected to miss at least this game.
For the Bruins, defenseman Mark Stuart (broken hand) remains out, while forward Greg Campbell is doubtful. He missed Thursday's game in Atlanta and Friday's practice with flu-like symptoms. If Campbell can't go, Brad Marchand will remain up with Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi, while Tyler Seguin will again center the fourth line between ex-Sabre Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Marc Savard-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Tyler Seguin-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Steven Kampfer
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Scratches: Greg Campbell (illness), Mark Stuart (hand)
Projected Sabres lines
Forwards
Thomas Vanek-Tim Connolly-Jason Pominville
Jochen Hecht-Rob Niedermayer-Drew Stafford
Tyler Ennis-Luke Adam-Cody McCormick
Nathan Gerbe-Paul Gaustad-Mike Grier
Defense
Jordan Leopold-Steve Montador
Mike Weber-Andrej Sekera
Shaonne Morrisonn-Tyler Myers
Goalies
Ryan Miller
Patrick Lalime
Scratches: Craig Rivet, Chris Butler, Patrick Kaleta (upper body)
