Boston, MA (WGR 550) - The final meeting of the season between the Sabres and the Bruins takes place in Boston on Saturday. Boston won both games in Buffalo, while the Sabres won the one game here.
This game is crucial as both teams have 50 points in the Atlantic Division. Montreal is one back and hosts Nashville.
In the Wild Card race, the Islanders trail by two and have a game at St. Louis.
The Sabres won at The Garden on Dec. 16 with Jack Eichel picking up two goals and two assists. Eichel will miss his second straight game due to an upper-body injury, but Buffalo won its first game without him 4-3 over Florida on Thursday.
Linus Ullmark will play his second straight game because he's won four straight starts and is 9-1-3. Ullmark was also in net for the win over the Bruins.
Only once has Ullmark played in consecutive games this season and it didn't go well. He lost to Toronto 4-3, he lost to Philadelphia 6-2 and he beat Los Angeles 4-3.
All six defensemen played well against the Panthers so there will be no changes. Phil Housley said, "All six did play well, especially with Lawrence [Pilut] setting up that one goal. All our D were contributing in one way or another whether it was in special teams, penalty kill, power play and even strength, I thought our guys did a good job of moving the puck."
Sam Reinhart scored his first goal in 12 games against Florida, but the winger is contributing in other ways. Reinhart has points in 15 out of 17 games, scoring six goals and 18 assists for 24 points.
Boston comes in on a three-game winning streak. The Bruins have won six out of eight and nine out of 13. It seems like Tuukka Rask has reclaimed his net. Jaroslav Halak had played five of seven games, but Rask was great in Buffalo and was once again good at the Winter Classic against Chicago. Halak played the last game and gave up four in a win over Calgary.
In the last three games, the Bruins are 5-for-13 on the power play and have killed off all 11 penalties against them.
Boston is 10-3-1 in its last 14 games against the Sabres, and 6-3-3 in their last 12 homes games against them. In the crazy NHL, if you turn it around Buffalo is 4-5-1 in its last 10 against Boston and 5-3-2 here.
Charlie McAvoy has missed the last four games due to injury.
Join Brian Koziol for the pre-game starting at 6:00 when he'll be joined by Phil Housley, Sam Reinhart and Lawrence Pilut.
