The Bruins will try to snap a 3-game skid (0-2-1) tonight when they host the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden. Buffalo, led by the strong play of goaltender Ryan Milller, is off to an impressive 9-3-1. The Sabres will try to move on from a 5-2 loss to the Flyers last night. While Ryan Miller has held the fort for Buffalo so far this season, it appears that recent call up Jhonas Enroth will get the start in goal, while Tuukka Rask will get the start in net for the B's.

Know Your Enemy 

Buffalo Sabres (9-3-1)

Head Coach: Lindy Ruff

Leading Goal Scorers:

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 Goaltending:

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Injury Report

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Notes:

- Former Rent-a-Bruin Steve Montador will face the Bruins for the first time since leaving Boston. This is also Daniel Paille's first game against his former team.

- Buffalo is 7-0-1 this season when scoring first.

- Buffalo has struggled on the power play on the road this season (2 for 20)

- The Bruins sent Mikko Lehtonen back down to Providence, which should mean that Byron Bitz is ready to go tonight.

- The Bruins are 0 for their last 20 on the power play, but have looked sharp on the PK, killing off 19 of their last 20 penalties.

- Money Line: -135 Boston, +115 Buffalo

- I have to make a confession: I actually like the BuffaSlug uniforms. There I said it.

- It's Tuukka Time!

- Game starts at 7:00. Open thread starts at 6:30.

- For more on the Sabres, check out Die By The Blade

Today's Embarrassing Sabres YouTube Video

The Bruins will host the Montreal Canadiens tonight at TD Garden for the first of six meeting this season. The B's enter tonight's game just one one point back in the standings from the visiting Habs. Montreal has 14 points in 15 games, while the Bruins have earned 13 points in one less game.

Know Your Enemy

Montreal Canadiens (7-8-0)

Head Coach: Jacques Martin

Leading Goal Scorer:

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Goaltending:

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Key Heckling Targets & Strategy:

Carey Price "CAAAAAAAAREY!"

Hal Gill Be creative. I'm sure you have plenty of ammo for "The Tower of Turnover"

Brian Gionta How he isn't tall enough to ride the roller coaster and how much BC sucks

 

Injury Report

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Notes:

- The Bruins have not scored a power play goal in 5 games and now have the worst power play in the NHL with a 11.5% success rate.

- Montreal has also struggled with special teams play this season. The are 24th in penalty-killing (75.8%) and 25th on the power play (14.3%).

- Mark Recchi needs 1 assist to reach 900 for his career

- Montreal has called up forwards Tom Pyatt and Ryan White from the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL).

- Former Montreal Canadien Steve Begin will play the Habs for the first time in a black and gold sweater.

- The game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on NESN. The open thread start at 6:30.

- For more on the Habs and how how they built an illegitimate dynasty by taking advantage of an unfair player allocation system, check out Habs Eyes On The Prize 

 

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Habs Fan YouTube Video

The Bruins are in Detroit to take on the Red Wings tonight at Joe Louis Arena. The perennial powerhouse Detroit Red Wings have looked rather mediocre this season and are off to a 5-4-3 start. As if living in Detroit wasn't bad enough, now the Red Wings aren't even that good. Hey, at least they still have a thriving automobile industry, Tiger Stadium, an NFL caliber football team,abandoned skyscrapers and Insane Clown Posse.

Know Your Enemy

Detroit Red Wings (5-4-3)

Head Coach:Mike Babcock

Leading Scorer:

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Goaltending:

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Injury Report

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Notes:

- Chris Osgood is expected to get the start in goal for the Wings.

- According to Fluto Shinzawa, Claude Julien shuffled lines in practice on Monday. The lines should look something like this....maybe.

   Marco Sturm - Patrice Bergeron - Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille - Vladimir Sobotka - Brad Marchand
Trent Whitfield - Steve Begin - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Derek Morris
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Andrew Ference

- For more on the Red Wings, check out Winging It In Motown

- Tonight's game will start at 7:00 and will air on Versus and TSN for all of you North of the Border. The Stanley Cup of Chowder Public Skate open thread is back and will start at 6:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Red Wings YouTube Video

(Photo Credit: BostonBruins.com)

The Bruins hope to put Thursday night's dissapointing loss to the New Jersey Devils behind them when they host the Edmonton Oliers at TD Garden in a Halloween matinee. The Oilers led by the strong play of Dustin Penner (19 points in 13 games) are off to 7-5-1 start and are coming off of a 6-5 shootout win over Detroit on Thursday night.

Know Your Enemy

Edmonton Oilers

Head Coach: Pat Quinn

Leading Scorer:

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Goaltending:

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Injury Report:

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Notes:

- The Oilers have been hit hard by the injury bug (see above). The flu has also made its way through the Oliers' room. Ladislav Smid was diagnosed with H1N1 and Gilbert Brule, Lubomir Visnovsky, Denis Grebeshkov, and Mike Comrie have all experienced flu-like sysmptoms within the past week.

- Despite a winning record, the Oilers are just 1-3-0 on the road.

- Oilers head coach Pat Quinn isn't real happy about the 1:00 start time:

"That dates back to the 60's that they've had their afternoon game, so they're used to that. We don't do it very often," the Coach said. "This is one of the examples of unfortunate scheduling I would say, where you play at home and have to travel, get a practice in, and have to play in the middle of the day. I don't think any team would feel good about that."

- Money Line: Boston -160 Edmonton +140

- For more on the Oilers, check out The Copper & Blue

- I will be out hittin' the links for the final time this year, but the Public Skate open thread will go on as scheduled. Feel free to stop by and talk about the B's starting at 12:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Oilers Fan YouTube Video

The Bruins will be back in action tonight when they take the Garden ice against the New Jersey Devils. The B's will try to carry the momentum from Saturday night's thrilling come from behind shootout winner over Ottawa.

The B's will do whatever possible to avoid becoming a footnote in the NHL record books. Martin Brodeur is just one shutout shy of tying Terry Sawchuk's all-time mark of 103 career shutouts. The Devils did play last night, but Brodeur isn't one to take too many night offs (and their back-up is Yann Danis). I would expect to see Marty in goal tonight gunning to tie the all-time record.

Know Your Enemy

New Jersey Devils (6-3-0) *record and stats not including last night's game

Head Coach: Jacques Lemaire

Leading Scorer:

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Goaltending:

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Injury Report:

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Notes:

- Judging by recent history and New Jersey's trap game, I would expect a low scoring game.

- There is a Sam Adams BruFest scheduled for tonight. The festivities start at 4:30 outside The Garden. Local band Hypercane will perform.

- Stat of the Day: Matt Hunwick has 3 goals on 6 shots this season

- For squeaky clean takes on the Devils and some gosh-darn good old fashioned fun, check out In Lou We Trust.

- Game starts at 7:00. Open thread starts at 6:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Jersey YouTube Video

H/T to Barstool Sports for introducing me to this clip. It is 100% "liquid gold".

The Bruins are in Ottawa tonight to take on the Ottawa Senators. The Senators have surprised everyone by jumping out of the gate with a 5-2-1 record. The injury-plagued B's will try to build off of a strong performance on Thursday night against Philadelphia (4-3 shootout loss). Meanwhile, the Sens will shoot to extend their winning streak to three games.

Know Your Enemy

Ottawa Senators (5-2-1)

Head Coach: Cory Clouston

Leading Scorer:

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 Goaltending:

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Brian Elliott is expected to get the start in goal for the Sens tonight. Pascal Leclaire is battling a case of the flu.

Injury Report

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Shawn Thornton (undisclosed injury or "sore vagina" if you ask Thornton) is expected to be back in the lineup

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Projected Lines

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Notes:

- Tonight's game will be Mark Recchi's 1,500th NHL game. He is also one assist shy of reaching #900.

- Ottawa has not won this season when giving up the first goal (0-1-1).

- Alarming Statistic: the Bruins have been outshot 94-64 in the third period this season.

- Ottawa has the second worst power play in the league (4 for 32), but do a great job killing penalties (88.6%).

- Ottawa might lead the league in guys named Chris (4 on active roster).

- Game starts at 7:00, Stanley Cup of Chowder Public Skate open thread starts at 6:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Sens Fan YouTube Video

This kid needs to learn some editing skills. The key to making an embarrassing video like this is not to show your face.

   In another weird scheduling quirk the Bruins will play another back to back game, tonight against the Flyers.  This is the first meeting of the young season for the Bruins and Flyers.  The boys in black and gold will look to stabilize their play, while the Flyers will look to snap a 3 game losing streak.

Notes:

-Simon Gagne has yet to score a goal this season, that just made me smile as he is one of my most disliked hockey players

- Riley Cote should worry less about tatooing his fans and more about actually cracking the lineup.

-The Flyers are 5th in the league on the powerplay, clicking at a rate of 27.3%.  While there penalty killing is also ranked 5th, killing off 88%.

-For more on the Flyers check out broadstreethockey.com

 Boys and Girls, I give you the Philadelphia Flyers!

Record: 3-2-1

Leading Scorers

			GP	G	A	P	+/-
		Jeff Carter	6	4	4	8	-1
		Mike Richards	6	6	2	8	-1
		Matt Carle	6	1	7	8	5

 

Injuries

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Goaltending

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The Bruins will be back on The Garden ice tonight when they play host to the Nashville Predators, finishing up the bad hockey market portion of their schedule.

The Bruins have made several roster moves this week, including trading Chuck Kobasew to the Minnesota Wild, trading picks to the Buffalo Sabres for Daniel Paille, placing Milan Lucic on the LTIR, and calling up Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka. The new look Bruins will try to bounce back from a disappointing 4-1 road loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Nashville will try to snap a 5 game losing streak (0-4-1) and earn their first win since October 8th. The Predators will be without the services of leading goal scorer Jason Arnott, who is nursing an injured left shoulder/elbow. Arnott's 3 goals account for one third of Nashville's seemingly non-existant offense.

Know Your Enemy

Nashville Predators (2-4-1)

Leading Goal Scorers:

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Injury Report:

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Shawn Thornton is also questionable with an undisclosed injury. Andrew Ference left practice early on Tuesday after taking a puck to the face.

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Notes:

- Normally, I give you the projected lines but with all the moves the B's have made this week, I have no idea what the lines will look like. 

- Nashville called up former Bruin Dave Scatchard from the Milwaukee Admirals.

- The Predators have scored just 9 goals in their first 7 games (league worst 1.29 goals per game)

- The Predators are a pathetic 1 for 24 on the power play (4.2%)

- Johnny Boychuk skated as a forward in practice on Tuesday, but I would expect to see him back on the blue line tonight.

- Former BU standout Colin Wilson has appeared in 4 games for the Preds and will likely see ice time.

- Money Line: Boston -230 Nashville +190

During two blowout losses last week to Dallas and Edmonton, it looked like pretty much nothing was working right for the Predators. In recent games, however, the goaltending and defense have tightened up. What remains a problem, however, is goal-scoring, and the loss of Jason Arnott is a tremendous blow. Combine that with awful starts by the two highest-paid Preds, David Legwand (0 points) and Martin Erat (1 goal), and Nashville is hoping to scrape and claw for whatever points they can at the present time.

Dirk from On the Forecheck

- For more insight on the Predators, check out On the Forecheck

- Puck drops at 7:00. Stanley Cup of Chowder Public Skate open thread starts at 6:30

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Predators Fan YouTube Video

I admit his video was not as funny or embarrassing as some of the videos I have posted this season. Don't worry, soon the B's will be back to playing team's with an actual fanbase so I will have more videos to choose from.