Berkshire Bank Faceoff: Projected Lines, Pairings For Bruins-Sabres

BOSTON — The Bruins and Buffalo Sabres will square off for the fourth and final time this season Saturday night at TD Garden.

The teams last met just two days ago, with Boston earning a 3-2 shootout win in Buffalo. The Bruins have enjoyed success in the second half of home-and-homes this season, going 3-0 in such games.

“It reminds me of college,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma told reporters Saturday morning, via BostonBruins.com. “I think just you feel like you’re playing a playoff series in some aspects, where you’ve got the same team back-to-back nights, two out of three, and I like the animosity it brings in the game. I like the — I don’t want to say the rivalry aspect to it — but you don’t like looking at the same players too often, and you start to build that animosity. And frankly, I think that’s where we need to be at to have success in this game tonight.”

The Sabres were victorious in their first trip to TD Garden, riding a four-point night by North Chelmsford, Mass., native Jack Eichel to a 6-3 win back on Dec. 26.

Tuukka Rask, who earned the win Thursday night, is expected to start in net for the Bruins opposite Buffalo’s Robin Lehner.

UPDATE (6:35 p.m. ET): Defenseman Joe Morrow returned to the Bruins’ lineup, replacing Colin Miller on the second pairing. Morrow had been a healthy scratch for Boston’s previous four games.

Here are the projected lines and pairings, as reported by the teams:

BOSTON BRUINS (27-18-6)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo — Max Talbot — Landon Ferraro

Zdeno Chara — Zach Trotman
Joe Morrow — Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

BUFFALO SABRES (21-26-5)
Jamie McGinn — Ryan O’Reilly — Sam Reinhart
Zemgus Girgensons — Jack Eichel — Matt Moulson
Evander Kane — Johan Larsson — Brian Gionta
Dan Catenacci — David Legwand — Nicolas Deslauriers

Josh Gorges — Rasmus Ristolainen
Zach Bogosian — Mark Pysyk
Mike Weber — Cody Franson

Robin Lehner

Thumbnail photo via Kevin Hoffman/USA TODAY Sports Images