The Bruins close out 2022 on Saturday afternoon when they welcome the Sabres to town.
Boston is coming off a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, while Buffalo has won its last five games and is 7-2-1 in its last 10.
Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the Bruins will end their first 36 games and go into 2023 without losing back-to-back games.
As for the forward lines, head coach Jim Montgomery isn’t making any changes from Wednesday’s lineup. Tomas Nosek will miss his second straight game with an injury, meaning Trent Frederic will remain at center — his natural position — between Nick Foligno and A.J. Greer on the fourth line.
Hampus Lindholm will skate on the top defense pair with Charlie McAvoy, switching spots with Matt Grzelcyk who will be on the second pair with Brandon Carlo.
It’s unclear who will be in net for the Bruins, but if it’s Linus Ullmark, he’ll have the chance to pass Tuukka Rask for most wins by a Bruins goalie in a calendar year — and it would come against his former Sabres team.
Puck drop for Bruins-Sabres from TD Garden is set for 1 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action beginning at 12 p.m. on NESN.
Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (28-4-3)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall — Charlie Coyle — Craig Smith
Nick Foligno — Trent Frederic — A.J. Greer
Hampus Lindholm — Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
BUFFALO SABRES (17-14-2)
Jeff Skinner — Tage Thompson — Alex Tuch
JJ Peterka — Dylan Cozens — Jack Quinn
Casey Mittelstadt — Tyson Jost — Viktor Olofsson
Zemgus Girgensons — Peyton Krebs — Kyle Okposo
Mattias Samuelsson — Ramus Dahlin
Owen Power — Kale Clague
Jacob Bryson — Ilya Lyubushkin
Craig Anderson
