Breaking down the Bruins-Sabres series
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 14, 2010 7:26 PM EDT
in Game Previews
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PrintThe Bruins put on a late season surge to move up the standings to the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference and will now take on the #3 seeded Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conrefernce Quarterfinals. The action gets underway on Thursday night at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo.
Series Schedule
Thursday, April 15th @ Buffalo 7:00 NESN
Saturday, April 17th @ Buffalo 1:00 NBC
Monday, April 19th vs. Buffalo 7:00 NESN and Versus (out of market)
Wednesday, April 21st vs. Buffalo 7:00 NESE and Versus (out of market)
Friday, April 23rd @ Buffalo 7:00 NESN (if needed)
Monday, April 26th vs. Buffalo 7:00 NESN (if needed)
Wednesday, April 28th @ Buffalo 7:00 NESN (if needed)
Season Series
The Bruins were 4-2-0 vs. Buffalo this season. Two of those wins came in overtime or the shootout. Neither of the two regulations wins for the Bruins came with Ryan Miller in net for the Sabres.
4/8 vs. Buffalo 3-1 W
3/29 vs. Buffalo 3-2 L
2/9 @ Buffalo 3-2 SO W
1/29 @ Buffalo 3-2 L
11/20 @ Buffalo 2-1 OT W
11/7 vs. Buffalo 4-2 W
Injury Report
Boston
Out for the Series: Mark Stuart (finger), Dennis Seidenberg (wrist) & Marc Savard (concussion)
Probable for Thursday: Andrew Ference (hernia)
Buffalo
Doubtful for Thursday's Game: Drew Stafford (concussion) & Jochen Hecht (finger)
Probable for Thursday's Game: Tim Connelly (foot)
In Net
The Bruins finished the regular season as the lowest scoring team in the National Hockey League (2.39 goals per game) and the injury to Marc Savard leaves them without a playmaker up front. Patrice Bergeron (19-33-52) and David Krejci (17-35-52) led the B's in points, while Marco Sturm was the team's lone 20 goal scorer with 22 tallies.
The Sabres were 10th in the league in scoring with 2.82 goals per game. The Sabres had four players reach the 20 goal mark: Thomas Vanek (28), Derek Roy (26), Jason Pominville (24), and Jochen Hecht (21).
Edge: Buffalo
Department of Defense
The defense has been one of the strong points for the Boston Bruins this season, giving up 2.33 goals per game.(second in NHL). While the blue line has dealt with poor individual play (see #6 in your program) and injuries throughout the season, the overall play has been pretty strong. The injuries to Mark Stuart and Dennis Seidenberg will certainly hurt the B's in their own zone, but young players like Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid have stepped up their games when needed. Te oft-injured Andrew Ferrence is expected to return for a hernia issue sometime during this series. Hopefully, the Bruins back line can hold up to the Sabres' forechecking pressure better than they did last season against the Hurricanes.
Rookie phenom Tyler Myers finished his freshman season in Buffalo with 48 points (11-37-48) and a +13 rating. Aside from Myers, the Sabres have a fairly solid core of serviceable defenseman in Craig Rivet, Henrik Tallinder, and Toni Lydman,.. and oh yeah, they have Steve Montador too.
Edge: Boston...you try skating around or through Big Z
Special Teams
Both teams have been great on the penalty kill and struggled on the power play this season.
Penalty Kill: Buffalo 86.6% (2nd in NHL); Boston 86.4% (3rd in NHL)
Power Play: Buffalo 17.6% (17th in NHL); Boston 16.6% (23rd in NHL)
Edge: Slight Edge to Buffalo
Behind The Bench
Claude Julien has led the Bruins to 3 straight playoff appearances. Lindy Ruff is longest tenured coach in the league and is in his 13th season with Buffalo.
Edge: Buffalo...13 season without getting fired is impressive
Players to Watch:
The Goaltenders: This one has all the right ingredients for a great goalie duel.
Tyler Myers: How will the kid react to the playoff atmosphere?
Patrice Bergeron: Will Bergy be the guy that steps up to lead this team?
Keys to the Series for the Bruins
- Put the damn puck in the net!!!!!
- Win at least one of the first two in Buffalo.
- Get back to playing a more physical brand of hockey.
- Forecheck! The B's have struggled to find the back of the net this season. Pressure the Buffalo puck carriers and create more chances.
- Don't let that gutless P.O.S. Patrick Kaleta bait you into any dumb penalties.
Keys to the Series for the Sabres
- Challenge Rask early in the series.
- Win two in Buffalo.
- Take chances: the Bruins have struggled to score goals, so why not take a few chances and try to create some odd-man rushes?
Probable Lines & D-Pairs for Game 1
Boston (according to Boston.com)
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Patrice Bergeron
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Marco Sturm
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David Krejci
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Begin/Whitfield
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Thornton/Marchand
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Johnny Boychuk
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Andrew Ference
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Adam McQuaid
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Buffalo
Tyler Ennis - Tim Connolly - Jason Pominville
Tim Kennedy - Derek Roy - Thomas Vanek
Paul Gaustad - Adam Mair - Mike Grier / Jochen Hecht
Patrick Kaleta - Matt Ellis - Raffi Torres / Nathan Gerbe
Henrik Tallinder - Tyler Myers
Chris Butler - Craig Rivet
Toni Lydman - Andrej Sekera
Prediction: Buffalo in 7
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Comments
I’m not sure I believe the Bruins can win this one myself, but this is THE SB Nation B’s blog, so can’t you Tommy Heinsohn this one and say like Bruins in…6?
I, for one, appreciate his honesty. I’m sure that he won’t mind being disappointed if he’s wrong. I’d have to admit that I am not overly confident about this series (from a Sabres fan point of view). I noticed in the last couple of games between these two teams, that the Bruins penalty kill was very aggressive. They gave us a hard time. I’m thinking a couple of short handed goals could go the B’s way. I’ve been a Buffalo sports fan all of my 39 years, so I am not going to put it out there that the Sabes are gonna give the Chowder Heads a beat down. I’m used to heartbreak. Enough said. Good luck. Go Sabes!
You gotta give me a Tommy Point for my honesty here.
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 15, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
ever the optimist, but...
miller has shown he is human a little in the second half, and the current bruins roster is playoff tested…. that being said the one question mark, tuukka, proves to be an excellent big game goalie, and the bruins win in 6. take 1 of 2 in buffalo, both in boston, and game 6 in boston, and move on to face pittsburgh
by BlueNGoldBomber on Apr 15, 2010 7:20 AM EDT reply actions
Winning game 1 or 2 in Buffalo would be huge but Buffalo has a great home record. It will be tough.
Join me on the Hockey Blog Adventure! (or Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)
by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Apr 15, 2010 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think it’s incredibly unlikely that the Bruins will take 1 of the first 2 games – but I’m pretty sure the Sabres will take at least 1 of the 3/4 games. I mean, have you seen the Bruins home record?
I wouldn’t be stunned to see it come back to Buffalo tied for game 5, but I think the Sabres will win the series in 6.
"The horse jumped over the f#@king fence."
- KV
If you told me a week and a half ago that I might go to 3 playoff games I’d have been giddy with excitement.
Now I want at least 4 home games.
Join me on the Hockey Blog Adventure! (or Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)
by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Apr 15, 2010 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Bruins in 7
Join the NLL community at http://www.nationallacrosseleagueblog.blogspot.com/
by bestbostonsports on Apr 15, 2010 9:04 AM EDT reply actions
Depends on which home crowd turns out monday and wednesday. If it’s a bunch of boo birds, I see that. But if it’s like saturday’s crowd I see the Bruins winning those games.
Join me on the Hockey Blog Adventure! (or Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)
by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Apr 15, 2010 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions
Don’t let that gutless P.O.S. Patrick Kaleta bait you into any dumb penalties.
LOL – he’s one of my favorite players!! Although I did just buy a Vanek jersey…
anyways – I think you put up a very fair article here for both teams. It will be a good series and i’m excited for it to start.
We got the tools, We got the talent
Kaleta is my hero
He’s also second in the league in penalty +/-. So, it might be difficult to not punch him, as apparently everyone else has trouble.
Not even the Toronto Maple Leafs could kill my optimism
Tyler Ennis: Freed from Portland!
glad to see Recchi on the 1st line....
….like old times. I hope his leadership and vast playoff experience will help get the B’s past this round.
I’m gonna say Bruins in 5 because……well because nobody has made that prediction yet here, so it sounds good to me ;)
In all seriousness though, I think the Bruins have what it takes to get past the Sabres as long as they can score on Miller. If they have trouble scoring this game I can see this series getting over with rather quickly.
atdhe.net
Join me on the Hockey Blog Adventure! (or Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)
by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Apr 15, 2010 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions
I will also be stuck using “alternate means” to watch tonight’s game.
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 15, 2010 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m stuck in East Bum Screw, MD for work and I don’t even get Versus.
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 15, 2010 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m going to cask and flagon for the toucher and rich party thing
Join me on the Hockey Blog Adventure! (or Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)
by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Apr 15, 2010 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions
and the only prescription is more cowbell!!!
but really, i love cowbells
by BlueNGoldBomber on Apr 15, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions
i feel like everyone is thinking it but noone is saying it, but the absoloute key to this series is tuukka rask. we know what ryan miller is, its simple as that, however, the biggest unanswered question is whether or not tuukka is a playoff goalie. if tuukka time means as much in the playoffs as it did during the regular season, then bruins in 6, if tuukka is carey price 2.0, buffalo in 5.
by BlueNGoldBomber on Apr 15, 2010 5:18 PM EDT reply actions
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