With two wins in two games, the Bruins are off to a good start under first-year NHL head coach Marco Sturm. It hasn’t been perfect, but the results are all that matters when coming off the year the Bruins are (their worst season since 2007), and Sturm and the Bruins know that better than anybody else.
But Saturday night will present the Bruins with a great chance to upgrade that good start (powered by Boston’s goaltending) to a really good start when the Sabres come to Boston for a showdown at TD Garden.
With a win, the Bruins would get off to their first 3-0-0 start since 2023-24 (they ultimately ran it to 6-0-0 before dropping their first game), and would set themselves up perfectly ahead of a massive week that’ll include head-to-heads with the Lightning, Golden Knights, and Avalanche. The Bruins will enter this game battling their first injury situation of the new campaign, though, with Hampus Lindholm (lower-body injury) ruled out of play for this contest.
The Sabres, meanwhile, roll into town after dropping a 4-0 final to the Rangers in their home opener. Buffalo was downright robbed in that game, too, as they finished the night with 37 shots on goal and went 0-for-4 on the man advantage. Like the Bruins, the Sabres also come into this game at less than 100 percent, with Josh Norris dealing with a significant upper-body injury.
Here’s a look at five players to keep an eye on tonight at TD Garden…
Morgan Geekie
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 08: Morgan Geekie #39 of the Boston Bruins skates with the puck against the Washington Capitals during the first period. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
You just know the Sabres hate to see a Morgan Geekie coming their way. While we’re all still trying to figure out if Geekie is indeed a full-time, 30-goal scorer after potting a career-best 33 goals a year ago, the Sabres know him as something much worse for their fortunes. In 10 career games against the Sabres, Geekie has posted six goals and nine points, and is coming off a 2024-25 season where he lit the Sabres up for three goals in four games.
The Bruins’ top line with Geekie to the left of Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak also didn’t have their best game at five-on-five play this past Thursday against Chicago, too, meaning they could be due for a bounce back.
Pavel Zacha
Oct 4, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) works the puck through the neutral zone during the third period period at TD Garden. (Eric Canha-Imagn Images)
Through two games, the Bruins’ Pavel Zacha has put himself on the board with two assists. Considering that the B’s have scored seven goals over that two-game sample, Zacha’s 29 percent offensive involvement is nothing to sneeze at. But it does feel like Zacha and his line, which features Casey Mittelstadt at center and Viktor Arvidsson at right wing, definitely has more to give. In fact, it was a line that went through some slight tweaks Thursday night, with Zacha and Mittelstadt switching places after Sturm noted that they weren’t generating much of anything as the game went on.
And like Geekie, Zacha does enter this contest with strong career numbers against Buffalo, with nine goals and 24 points in 32 career head-to-heads.
Jordan Harris
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 23: Jordan Harris #43 of the Boston Bruins skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on September 23, 2025. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The loss of Lindholm will give us our first regular-season look at depth defenseman Jordan Harris in a Bruins uniform. Harris, a Haverhill, Mass. native, is no stranger to NHL play, having played 164 games between Montreal and Columbus since 2022. But his value to the Bruins in this role remains a relative unknown, and his role could be an important one given the truncated schedule in an Olympic year and some obvious health questions for Boston.
“I think the way he finished, I thought he played really well,” Sturm said of Harris making the team out of camp. “He used his feet a little bit more than probably the first couple games he played. He’s on the smaller side, but because of his ability to out-skate and move around and use his stick work well, I am very confident that he will do a good job tonight.”
Alex Tuch
Mar 29, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) controls the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period at Wells Fargo Center. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
You just know the Sabres have to absolutely piiiiiiisssed about losing that game the way they did against the Rangers. This wasn’t your classic Sabres letdown. No, the team was competitive and just stymied by elite goaltending. So, how do you fix that? By continuing to shoot the puck until it snaps in two. That’s where you look at a player like Alex Tuch and his potential impact.
Tuch finished that loss with a team-leading six shots on goal, and comes into tonight’s game with six goals and 12 points in 15 career games against the B’s.
The 29-year-old wing, who played his college hockey at Boston College before turning pro, has also really enjoyed coming back to The Hub as a pro, with eight points in eight career games at TD Garden.
Bowen Byram
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 21: Bowen Byram #4 of the Sabres skates against the Bruins during the second period at TD Garden on December 21, 2024. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Watching the Sabres, it’s easy to get lost in the promise of their backend between Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. But Bowen Byram, whom the Sabres acquired in a trade with the Avs back in 2024 (in exchange for current Bruin Casey Mittelstadt, oddly enough), has also grabbed some of that spotlight. Especially in these recent Boston-Buffalo showdowns.
In four games against the Bruins last year, Byram posted four helpers.
Byram was also strong in Buffalo’s loss to New York on Thursday, as the Sabres held a 17-5 edge in shots at five-on-five play with Byram on the ice.