Game 52 Preview/Lines: Sabres (21-26-4) at Bruins (27-18-6)

Just The Facts:

Records: Boston Bruins: 27-18-6, 60 Points in 51 Games, 3rd in the Atlantic. Buffalo Sabres: 21-26-9, 43 Points in 46 Games, 8th in the Atlantic

Home/Away Splits, Last 10: Bruins Home: 11-13-3. BUF Away: 12-11-2. BOS Last 10: 6-3-1. BUF Last 10: 5-4-1

Vs. Each Other: The teams have now split two games, each winning away, with Buffalo grabbing a SO point in its loss.

Line: Bruins -190 (over/under is at 5) -- the odds are currently exactly the same as the Bruins last home game

Opposing SBNation Site: Die By The Blade

How/When To Watch:

When: Tuesday, February 6th. 7 PM!

Where: TD Garden, Boston MA

TV: NESN, MSG

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, WGR 550

Lines:

Bruins Forwards:

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Brett Connolly

Loui Eriksson - David Krejci - David Pastrnak

Matt Beleskey - Ryan Spooner - Jimmy Hayes

Zac Rinaldo - Maxime Talbot - Landon Ferraro

You know this group well by now. Marchand has been red-hot lately, and the play of the forward corps has been instrumental in overtaking the Detroit Red Wings (currently winning, so the Bruins'd need at least a point to stay ahead) for third place. ICYMI, Cornelius posted about Kempainen's demotion earlier today.

Bruins D-Pairings:

Zdeno Chara - Zach Trotman

Dennis Seidenberg - Colin Miller

Torey Krug - Kevan Miller

And this group too, which hasn't actually been swapping players around that much of late.

And In Net:

Gustavsson the only goalie on the ice

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 6, 2016

We don't 100% know what that means, given that Krug also wasn't there for the optional skate, and is expected to healthy and playing, but virtually everyone else was. In any case, it's either Tuukka Rask or Jonas Gustavsson.

Sabres Forwards:

Via Die By The Blade's projections:

Jamie McGinn - Ryan O'Reilly - Sam Reinhart

Zemgus Girgensons - Jack Eichel - Matt Moulson

Evander Kane - Johan Larsson - Brian Gionta

Dan Catenacci - David Legwand - Nicolas Deslauriers

O'Reilly has cooled of late, having failed to find the net in 11 games (though you should know by now that that doesn't mean he's forgotten how to play hockey, of course). Moulson was bumped up a line to play with former all-star Girgensons and Eichel. The Sabres pay their fourth line a bit too much money. Anyway, we've seen this team a lot recently, but the Sabres are actually pretty solid down the middle (especially for a team that's in last place). Eichel has enough points/everything that people who thought he might be a bust are starting to look a little Milbury-ish.

Sabres D-Men:

Josh Gorges - Rasmus Ristolainen

Mike Weber - Cody Franson

Zach Bogosian - Mark Pysyk

ALL of the left-side defensemen all just-kinda-there types, so it'll be interesting to see if the Bruins' dump-ins utilize the Sabres left, Bruins right-side corner. On the right, it's two guys who're actually pretty dang good at most things and then Pysyk.

And In Net:

Robin Lehner gets the start in net tonight, after Chad Johnson started for the Sabres in the Buffalo half of this home-and-home. He's been hot ever since returning from injury, with a .938 SV% on the season. The last time Lehner surrendered more than two goals in a game was against...the Bruins.

~

This should be another contentious one, and maybe the Bruins can finally snap their cold streak at home. Maybe. See you all at 7!