Bruins at Sabres preview

BRUINS (0-1-0) at SABRES (0-0-0)
7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, NESN, NHL.TV

The Game

Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will make his NHL debut for the Buffalo Sabres when they host the Boston Bruins at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Dahlin, selected No. 1 in the 2018 NHL Draft, will become the fourth youngest defenseman in the past 20 years to make his NHL debut (18 years, 174 days). He had three points (one goal, two assists) in four preseason games.
Center Jack Eichel will make his debut as the 19th full-time captain in Sabres history. Buffalo has not had a captain since Brian Gionta in 2016-17.
The Bruins, who lost 7-0 to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, are playing the second half of back-to-back games to open the season.
Goaltender Jaroslav Halak will make his first start for Boston; No. 1 goaltender Tuukka Rask was pulled at 7:28 of the second period against the Capitals after allowing five goals on 19 shots.

Players to watch

Bruins forward Brad Marchand was minus-2 with one shot on goal against the Capitals in 14:56 of ice time. He has 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 39 NHL games against the Sabres, his most against any opponent.
Sabres forward Jeff Skinner will make his Buffalo debut after being acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on Aug. 2. Skinner played his first eight NHL seasons with Carolina and has 379 points (204 goals, 175 assists) in 579 games.

They said it

"This is part of hockey; you can't win every game, those kind of games happen. Unfortunately it happened the first game of the season. We all know in the room we can get better and are way better players than we showed last night." -- Bruins forward David Pastrnak
"He brings such a good attitude to the rink every day. I think everybody knows about his skill level, but just the way he's so mature for his age. He wants to work, he wants to get better every day. It's a good recipe." -- Sabres center Jack Eichel on rookie Rasmus Dahlin

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Danton Heinen
Ryan Donato -- Sean Kuraly -- David Backes
Joakim Nordstrom -- Noel Acciari -- Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
John Moore -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: Anders Bjork, Urho Vaakanainen, Steven Kampfer
Injured: Torey Krug (ankle)

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Patrik Berglund -- Tage Thompson
Vladimir Sobotka -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Kyle Okposo
Zemgus Girgensons -- Evan Rodrigues -- Jason Pominville
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Dahlin
Nathan Beaulieu -- Casey Nelson
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched:Remi Elie, Matt Tennyson
Injured: Scott Wilson (ankle), Johan Larsson (foot), Sean Malone (knee), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Matt Hunwick
(neck)