Sabres at Bruins | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

BOSTON – The Buffalo Sabres, with points in six of their last seven games, return to TD Garden for a Thursday night rematch with the Boston Bruins.

Results at KeyBank Center (4-2-1) haven’t yet traveled with the Sabres, who are 0-2-1 on the road to start the season. But all three games have come down to the wire: Boston and Montreal won by two goals with last-minute empty netters, and Toronto beat Buffalo in overtime on Saturday.

Interestingly, some of the underlying metrics suggest Buffalo has played better on the road, albeit in a smaller sample size. Here’s how the Sabres have controlled 5-on-5 play, home and away, per Natural Stat Trick:

In short, the Sabres haven’t converted enough of their puck possession into goals on the road. Those numbers don’t include the power play, where Buffalo is 1-for-9 in three games. They could also use some more timely saves after allowing key third-period goals in Montreal and Toronto.

“If we’re going to win road games, we’ve got to get our offense going,” coach Lindy Ruff said after Thursday’s morning skate. “The focus yesterday, the focus this morning, is talking about generating more and playing more in the offensive zone on the road.”

Overall, though, they've deserved a better fate than one point in three road games, and they'll look to turn things around Thursday against a struggling-of-late Bruins team.

Here’s what you need to know before puck drop at 7 p.m.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, ESPN+ (out of market)

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App

More ways to watch/listen to Sabres games

Lineup notes (updated 6:35 p.m.)

Forward Jordan Greenway is making his season debut – his first game since March 23. Returning from a nagging middle-body injury that required multiple surgeries, the 28-year-old will add toughness and skill to Buffalo’s bottom six, and he’ll further strengthen the Sabres’ best-in-class penalty kill.

• Practice Report | Greenway nears return from long rehab

Here are the Sabres' lines from warmups, with Alex Lyon in net:

Second-line success

Through 10 games, Josh Doan, Ryan McLeod and Alex Tuch have formed one of the NHL’s most effective lines, with speed, skill and defensive commitment resulting in excellent 200-foot play.

Buffalo has controlled 58 percent of the shot attempts with those guys deployed at 5-on-5, outscoring its opponents 7-3. Of the 119 trios who’ve played more than 30 minutes together at 5-on-5, they rank ninth in expected goal share (68.1%) and sixth in actual goals per 60 minutes (6.51), per Evolving-Hockey.

“For the most part, I think their zone play, getting screens and people around the net, they’ve been our best line at doing that,” Ruff said.

Tuch leads the team with nine points (3+6) after a two-assist night versus Columbus, McLeod is riding a four-game point streak and Doan, who’s energized the team in more ways than his scoring, already has seven points (3+4).

Scouting the Bruins

The Bruins improved to 3-0-0 with their 3-1 win over Buffalo on Oct. 11. Since then, however, they’ve gone 2-7-0 while allowing 4.3 goals per game. While exceeding expectations, offensively, Boston has had frequent defensive breakdowns that the Sabres will look to take advantage of.

Much like last season, David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie have carried the Bruins’ offense. Pastrnak’s 15 points rank near the top of the league, and Geekie’s already up to eight goals, including six in his last five games.

Backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo will make his second straight start, per coach Marco Sturm. He's got an .870 save percentage and 3.62 goals-against average through five games this season.