BOSTON — Someone's streak will come to an end on Saturday.
The Bruins and Sabres are each riding four-game win streaks as Buffalo visits the Garden for a Northeast Division clash.
Coaches usually don't like to make lineup changes when their team is on a roll, but injuries have given Bruins coach Claude Julien little choice.
Defenseman Andrew Ference will definitely be out after suffering a lower-body injury in Thursday's win over Edmonton, though Julien does not expect Ference's absence to be a long-term situation.
"He's better today," Julien said. "[He] won't be in the lineup tonight, but definitely a day-to-day situation."
Replacing Ference will be Steven Kampfer, who has one assist in two games this year but has been a healthy scratch the last six games.
"He's been working hard in practice, and I think this is an opportunity for him now to come into a game and play the way he can, and I guess we're going to see how he does," Julien said. "And you've got to understand that he hasn't played in a while, so we can't put our expectations too high, but more get a solid performance from him and a simple game. And that's all we're going to need from Kampfer [Saturday]. And then he'll just work his way in, and feel better I'm sure as we move forward."
Up front, Rich Peverley will again be a game-time decision. He's missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, but has returned to practice and participated in the morning skate and will likely return on Saturday.
"We're just going to again make sure from a medical point of view that he's ready to go," Julien said. "He feels good, and once I get the clearance from them then I can go ahead and make my decision."
Peverley's return would push Zach Hamill out of the lineup, but may not push him all the way back to Providence after Hamill looked strong in his season debut on Thursday, finishing a plus-2 with an assist.
"Not necessarily," Julien said when asked if Hamill would be sent down. "We'll see about that and I'll certainly have to talk with upper management there, Peter [Chiarelli] actually, before I can basically answer that question because a lot of it has to do with them and what we're capable of doing."
Daniel Paille participated in the morning skate with a full cage on to protect his surgically reconstructed nose, but is not expected to play on Saturday. Benoit Pouliot will remain on the fourth line with Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton.
Tim Thomas is expected to be in goal after Tuukka Rask got his first back-to-back starts of the season on Monday and Thursday and responded with his first two wins of the year.
The Sabres are expected to counter with Ryan Miller, despite his struggles of late. He's allowed 15 goals in his last four appearances, including three in just six minutes against Philadelphia, and is just 5-5-0 with a 2.74 GAA and .913 save percentage overall this season.
Jhonas Enroth is 5-0-0 with a 1.34 GAA and .956 save percentage, but will likely get some rest after playing Friday night in the Sabres' 5-1 win over Ottawa. Enroth is also 0-2-0 with a 5.36 GAA against the Bruins.
The Sabres will get agitator Patrick Kaleta back, as he has finished serving a four-game suspension for head-butting.
Ghislain Hebert and Marc Joannette will be the referees keeping a close on eye on Kaleta, with Derek Nansen and Mark Shewchyk working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Jordan Caron-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Benoit Pouliot-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Steven Kampfer-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Daniel Paille (broken nose), Andrew Ference (lower body), Zach Hamill
Projected Sabres lines
Forwards
Thomas Vanek-Luke Adam-Jason Pominville
Ville Leino-Derek Roy-Drew Stafford
Nathan Gerbe-Paul Gaustad-Brad Boyes
Cody McCormick-Matt Ellis-Patrick Kaleta
Defense
Andrej Sekera-Tyler Myers
Marc-Andre Gragnani-Christian Ehrhoff
Jordan Leopold-Robyn Regehr
Goalies
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth
Scratches: Tyler Ennis (ankle), Mike Weber, Corey Tropp
