BUFFALO –– The Boston Bruins are right back at it.
After falling 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday at TD Garden, the B’s will skate in the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday at KeyBank Center against the Buffalo Sabres. The 7:30 p.m. puck drop marks the fourth and final time the teams will meet this regular season; Boston has won two of the three previous games against Buffalo.
“The good thing is, we had to move on really quickly. I think that’s a good thing, playing tonight against the hottest team in the league. I see it as a good thing,” head coach Marco Sturm said.
The Sabres sit atop the Atlantic Division with 95 points. The Bruins are currently in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 86 points.
“It’s a great opportunity, it’s a great challenge. We want to be in the mix – here’s our chance. I see it as a good thing, and that’s what I told the guys this morning. We should be excited for these kinds of moments right now,” Sturm said. “How I know my team, they are going to try everything they possibly can to have a good night tonight and move forward.”
Wait, There’s More
- Joonas Korpisalo will start in net for Boston. The goaltender last played on March 16 against the New Jersey Devils and made 30 saves. Korpisalo has a 3.30 goals against average and a .891 save percentage through 26 games.
- Casey Mittelstadt was a first-round pick for Buffalo in the 2017 NHL Draft. The 27-year-old forward spent seven seasons with the Sabres before getting traded to Colorado and eventually landing in Boston. Mittelstadt has 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) this year with the B’s while on the second line with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson.
- Nikita Zadorov was also a first-round pick for the Sabres in the 2013 NHL Draft; the defenseman was with the organization from 2013 to 2015. Zadorov has 19 points (two goals, 17 assists) this season. He is projected to skate on the third pair with Andrew Peeke, who is reentering the lineup on Wednesday in Buffalo.
Opposing View
- The Sabres most recently fell 6-5 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at Honda Center. Alex Tuch, Josh Doan, Jack Quinn, Owen Power and Zach Benson scored in the loss, and netminder Alex Lyon made 27 saves. Buffalo has won four of its last five games coming into Wednesday.
- Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 72 points (36 goals, 36 assists) through 71 games this season. The 28-year-old forward has been centering the first line between Tuch and Peyton Krebs. Thompson is also on the first power-play unit and has five goals on the man advantage.
- Buffalo’s penalty kill ranks sixth in the league at 81.9%. Rasmus Dahlin – who leads all Sabres defensemen in points – is on the PK. His 24:23 of ice time per night is the most on the team, and he has 65 points (15 goals, 50 assists) through 67 games. Dahlin has been on the first pair with Mattias Samuelsson, who is a game-time decision.
