At the Rink: Sabres at Bruins

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins awoke Tuesday five points ahead of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Despite playing without injured center David Krejci, they're 8-2-1 in their past 11 heading into their game against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN).

But the Bruins might receive a boost soon because Krejci, who sustained a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee Feb. 20 against the St. Louis Blues, is getting closer to a return, according to Bruins coach Claude Julien. Krejci was projected to miss four to six weeks but has been out a little more than three.

Krejci had been skating on his own for a week before he joined the Bruins' morning skate Tuesday.

"He's progressing well. So I don't know exactly how close he is," Julien said. "Is he a possibility for the weekend? I think the earliest would be the weekend ... and maybe even more."

Krejci has seven goals and 26 points in 38 games this season. He missed games earlier this season with a lower-body injury. That experience will help him know when he's able to get back into the lineup.

"I don't really have a timeline," Krejci said. "I just take it day-by-day. Whenever it feels 100 percent I'll be back."

With Krejci out Julien has found a solid line combination with rookie Ryan Spooner centering Krejci's usual linemates, Milan Lucic and David Pastrnak. Spooner has three goals and nine points in 11 games since Krejci's injury. Lucic, who previously had difficulty producing without Krejci, has four goals and eight points without his usual center.

Depending on your perspective, when Krejci returns Julien will be in the enviable or unenviable position of trying to plug the center back into the lineup.

"I've thought about it. I haven't made up my mind where and stuff like that," Julien said. "So instead of starting to speculate stuff like that, you know I could tell you something today and I may change my mind tomorrow. So I've thought about it and it's not easy. Guys that are in the lineup are playing well. So you've got to make a good decision there. It's not a decision that I think I'm ready to make today. But certainly thinking about it."

Consider Krejci indifferent to the situation as long as he's playing somewhere in the lineup.

"I'm open to whatever," he said. "I'll play wherever [Julien] puts me and I'm going to try to do my best."

The Bruins have won their prior four games against the Sabres and are trying to sweep the season series for the first time in their history. Buffalo is coming off a home shootout loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday and did not hold a morning skate.

The Bruins recalled goaltender Jeremy Smith from Providence of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. There was no report of injuries to the Bruins' regular goalies.

Here are the projected lineups:

SABRES

Matt Moulson - Johan Larsson - Tyler Ennis

Marcus Foligno - Philip Varone - Brian Gionta

Nicolas Deslauriers - Tim Schaller - Cody Hodgson

Jerry D'Amigo - Matt Ellis - Zac Dalpe

Mike Weber - Rasmus Ristolainen

Nikita Zadorov - Chad Ruhwedel

Andre Benoit - Tyson Strachan

Matt Hackett

Anders Lindback

Scratched: None

Injured: Andrej Meszaros (upper body), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Zemgus Girgensons (lower body), Josh Gorges (lower body), Patrick Kaleta (lower body), Chad Johnson (lower body), Cody McCormick (blood clots), Evander Kane (shoulder)

BRUINS

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith

Milan Lucic - Ryan Spooner - David Pastrnak

Chris Kelly - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Max Talbot

Zdeno Chara - Dougie Hamilton

Matt Bartkowski - Dennis Seidenberg

Torey Krug - Adam McQuaid

Niklas Svedberg

Tuukka Rask

Scratched: Brian Ferlin, Jeremy Smith

Injured: David Krejci (knee), Kevan Miller (shoulder), Brett Connolly (finger)

Status report: Sabres coach Ted Nolan said Monday that Meszaros and Bogosian could miss a few games. They both missed the game against the Capitals. ... Connolly skated for the second time with the Bruins on Tuesday.

Who's hot: Larsson, who scored the game-tying goal against Washington on Monday, has three goals in his past four games. ... Hamilton has three goals and six points against the Sabres this season.