BOSTON –– Playoff hockey is back at TD Garden.
The Bruins will host the Buffalo Sabres for Game 3 on Thursday night at 7 p.m., as the first-round series shifts to Boston tied 1-1. The B’s beat the Sabres 4-2 in Game 2 on Tuesday after falling 4-3 on Sunday.
Boston had the second-best record on home ice in the league this regular season (29-11-1), and is looking to feed off of that energy.
“We love playing at home, we love playing in front of our crowd. The biggest thing for us, we don’t want to change any of our style of play,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “We want to play Bruins hockey, but also kind of stay in control a little bit and keep our emotions under control, so we can stick with our game plan.”
David Pastrnak leads the Bruins with five points (one goal, four assists) through the first two games of the playoffs. He remains on the first line with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie, who has four points (two goals, two assists).
“We’ve been forechecking much better. We’ve been playing simple and focused on the details,” Pastrnak said. “In the end, it doesn’t change. We have to play our game. We have to focus on us, and we know what gives us success. We just have to be ready for tonight. We are going to see probably their best, and we have to be ready for that.”
While Pastrnak has played plenty of games at TD Garden during the playoffs, many of his teammates will be experiencing it for the first time on Thursday, including Jonathan Aspirot. The 26-year-old rookie had two assists on Tuesday, marking his first-ever points in the NHL playoffs. Aspirot is on the first pair with Charlie McAvoy while averaging 16:44 of ice time in the postseason. He threw a cumulative four hits in the first two games of the series.
“He uses his skill set and just plays to his strengths. He has been steady and solid for us, as he has been all year,” McAvoy said of Aspirot. “I am just really happy for him. Now he’s getting to experience NHL playoff hockey, and he’s playing amazing…It’s just a very feel-good story for a guy to continue to believe in himself and to finally get an opportunity and prove everybody wrong.”
Sturm agreed with McAvoy’s assessment.
“Coming in here and being that productive and consistent, playing with Charlie, being on the first pair – that’s a lot for a guy who never really played in the NHL, especially playoffs. He surprised me on that, for sure,” Sturm said. “But we noticed right away, as soon as he was up with us and played a few games, this guy is for real, and he fits our system perfectly.”
