BUFFALO, NY – The Boston Bruins (20-17-1) are back from their holiday break. Tonight’s game is against the high-flying Buffalo Sabres (18-14-4), who have won their last seven games. The Bruins, on the other hand, enter this one without a win in their previous four. Tonight also marks the first of a five-game road trip for the black and gold.
Tonight is the third meeting between these two teams this season, and the Bruins emerged victorious in the first two. Boston is 6-3-1 in their last ten games against the Sabres, and their last road win in Buffalo came exactly two years ago, on December 27, 2023.
The Bruins (41) only sit one point ahead of Buffalo (40) in the Atlantic Division standings. The Sabres have two games in hand over the Bruins, and therefore have a higher points percentage.
Coming out of the break, Marat Khusnutdinov is currently riding a three-game point streak, which is the first of his career. Khusnutdinov skated on the fourth line on Tuesday with Alex Steeves and Sean Kuraly. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy has four points in his last four games and tallied his first goal of the season on Sunday against Ottawa.
Also, Buffalo will be wearing their black alternate jerseys.
Bruins Morning Skate Notes
As Kevin Paul DuPont of The Boston Globe reported, the Bruins had flight delays on Saturday morning and did not hold a morning skate.
Marco Sturm met with the media, however, and provided updates ahead of tonight’s contest. The first was that Joonas Korpisalo will start in the net tonight for the Bruins. Sturm also added that Tanner Jeannot will not play; he sustained an injury in the Montreal game on Tuesday. He did not announce who would slot in for the absent Jeannot.
Regarding the other injuries, Sturm said that Jonathan Aspirot has been inching closer to a return. He also noted that Henri Jokiharju was skating again. All of the injured players are with the team for the five-game road trip, although Marco Sturm said it is “too early to say” whether they will play or not.
On Buffalo’s side, Rasmus Dahlin will not play tonight as he tends to a family situation in Sweden. The Sabres will start Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in goal tonight.
Expected Bruins Lines
Forwards
Morgan Geekie – Elias Lindholm – David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt – Pavel Zacha – Viktor Arvidsson
Mikey Eyssimont – Fraser Minten – Mark Kastelic
Alex Steeves – Sean Kuraly – Marat Khusnutdinov
Defensemen
Nikita Zadorov – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Andrew Peeke
Vladislav Kolyachonok – Mason Lohrei
Sources: Boston Bruins
Starting Goalie
Joonas Korpisalo (6-7-0, 3.63 GAA, .880 SV%)
Source: Marco Sturm
Expected Sabres Lines
Forwards
Payton Krebs – Tage Thompson – Josh Doan
Noah Ostlund – Josh Norris – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway – Josh Dunne – Beck Malenstyn
Defensemen
Mattias Samuelsson – Bowen Byram
Owen Power – Michael Kesselring
Jacob Bryson – Zach Metsa
Source: Heather Engel (NHL.com)
Starting Goalie
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (5-5-1, 2.73 GAA, .892 SV%)
Source: Bill Hoppe (Times Herald)
Special Teams
The Bruins’ power play connected once in five attempts on Tuesday night. The man-advantage ranks seventh in the league and is performing at a 25.4% rate. Boston’s penalty kill has continued to slip down the rankings and now sits 19th at 79.2%. The last time the Bruins’ penalty kill pitched a perfect night was on December 6 against New Jersey.
On the other end, the Sabres’ penalty kill has been their strong suit this season. Buffalo ranks second in the league and has been getting kills 84.5% of the time. The Sabres’ power play is tied for 15th in the league, connecting on 20.2% of man-advantage opportunities.
Season Series
Saturday, October 11: @ BOS – Bruins win 3-1
Thursday, October 30: @ BOS – Bruins win 4-3 (OT)
Saturday, December 27: Bruins @ Sabres
Wednesday, March 25: Bruins @ Sabres
Upcoming Schedule
Monday, December 29: Bruins @ Flames
Wednesday, December 31: Bruins @ Oilers
Saturday, January 3: Bruins @ Canucks
Tuesday, January 6: Bruins @ Kraken
Thursday, January 8: Flames @ Bruins
How to Watch
7:00 PM ET
TV: NESN
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub