While the World Series begins tonight in Boston, the Bruins will pay a visit to Buffalo at the First Niagara Center. It’s rivalry night and the two teams will square off on National television as puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. on the NBCSN.
The Sabres have been struggling mightily this season, winning one of just 10 games to open the year. They are still looking to earn their first victory on home ice. The Bruins come in with a perfect 3-0 road record and will try to keep that going tonight.
This will be the first of five meetings between the two teams. Last season, the Sabres went 3-2 against Boston, earning six points. The only other Eastern Conference team the Sabres earned at least six points against was Montreal.
Sabres fans have been “suffering” as the team goes into rebuilding mode, but Buffalo is well rested and looking to put that 1-8-1 record behind them. Tonight marks the first of three consecutive division games for the Sabres. They will make visits to Florida and Tampa Bay this weekend.
Buffalo have been facing some of the league’s bettet teams, but still have that lone win, which came against the Islanders last week in a shootout. The Sabres were able to stay with the Avalanche on Saturday, but couldn’t tie it up.
“I think we came on strong in the second and third,” Hodgson said. “We started playing with the puck more and started making some real positive things happen. We know we can play. It’s not a question of that. It’s not putting ourselves behind the eight-ball right away.”
The Bruins are four points out of the division lead behind Toronto and Detroit, but have played three fewer games than each of them. Boston comes into tonight with three victories in its last four games. Milan Lucic and David Krejci are tied for the team lead in points with six. Lucic and Chris Kelly are tops on the team with three goals apiece.
Tonight’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and can be seen on NBCSN. If you’re looking to hear Rick Jeanneret call the game, tune into WGR 550.