The Boston Bruins hope consistent input will yield identical products Thursday when they face the Buffalo Sabres.
The lines and pairings the Bruins will deploy Thursday night in Buffalo at KeyBank Center largely are the same as the ones that helped Boston earn a 2-0 win over Buffalo on Tuesday night.
The top-four forward lines likely will remain the same, as will the three top defensive pairings. The most notable change is expected to be on the fourth-line defensive pairing, with Steve Kampfer replacing Jakub Zboril, who would be a healthy scratch.
Another change is afoot in Boston's goal, as Jeremy Swayman will stand in for Tuukka Rask, who'll rest as he continues to work back toward peak fitness and sharpness. Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski will play opposite Swayman.
Here are the projected lineups for Thursday's Bruins-Sabres game:
BOSTON BRUINS (26-12-6)
Brad Marchand--Patrice Bergeron--David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall--David Krejci--Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie, Charlie Coyle--Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly--Curtis Lazar--Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk--Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly--Connor Clifton
Jeremy Lauzon--Steve Kampfer
Jeremy Swayman
BUFFALO SABRES (12-27-7)
Jeff Skinner--Sam Reinhart--Victor Olofsson
Rasmus Asplund--Casey Mittelstadt--Tage Thompson
Anders Bjork--Dylan Cozens--Arttu Ruotsalainen
Tobias Rieder--Riley Sheahan--Drake Caggiula
Mattias Samuelsson--Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin--Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson--William Borgen
Dustin Tokarski
