Preview: Bruins host Sabres for final regular-season home game

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Die By The Blade

Know your enemy

• 31-38-11, 73PTS, 5^th in Atlantic Division
• Tage Thompson: 76GP, 37G, 30A, 67PTS; Jeff Skinner: 78GP, 33G, 29A, 62PTS; Rasmus Dahlin: 78GP, 13G, 40A, 53PTS
• Craig Anderson: 17-12-2, 3.12 GAA, .897 save percentage; Dustin Tokarski: 9-11-5, 3.25 GAA, .901 save percentage

Game notes

• The Boston Bruins will face the Buffalo Sabres tonight for their last regular-season home game! At home this year, the Bruins have posted a 25-13-2 record.
• The Bruins have the chance to sweep their season series against them, as the B’s are 3-0-0 against the Sabres this season. They beat them 4-1 on October 22, 2021, 5-1 on November 24, 2021 and 4-3 in overtime on January 1. In that last meeting, the Bruins trailed 3-1 heading into the third period before scoring two goals to send the game into OT where Charlie Coyle netted the game-winner 34 seconds in.
• Coyle and Taylor Hall have each recorded a goal in each meeting against the Sabres this season. Coyle leads the Bruins in points against Buffalo with six so far. David Pastrnak has two goals and one assist in the three meetings. Brad Marchand has five assists in those games, while Charlie McAvoy has four assists.
• The B’s had a big night on Tuesday, defeating the Florida Panthers, 4-2. Erik Haula and Hall scored six seconds apart and the Bruins picked up tallies from Jake DeBrusk and Marchand in the win. BUT the Bruins still came up short on the power play yet again.
• In Tuesday’s win, Marchand netted his first goal since April 2. He’s now on a three-game point streak with one goal and four assists. Haula’s goal also extended his point streak to three games. He has three goals and one assist in those games.
• The Bruins will go with Linus Ullmark in net tonight and Jeremy Swayman tomorrow. When asked who the team is swaying towards to start Game 1 of the first round, Bruce Cassidy said a decision will be made after tomorrow’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He did add, however, that Ullmark has had an edge on Swayman down this stretch. Ullmark is 8-1-1 in his last ten starts.
• Cassidy said after Tuesday’s win that he expected to run his full lineup against the Sabres and then would see some rest for guys on Friday. Practice lines yesterday indicate that he’s still sticking with that plan and lines remained unchanged from Tuesday.
• Although there is a slight chance the Bruins could move up to third in the Atlantic Division, it’s more apparent that the Bruins will likely face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. But if the Bruins win out or win one and gain an OT point in the other AND the Tampa Bay Lightning only gain one point these next two games, the two teams would swap spots.
• Despite being out of the playoffs, the Sabres have had a good run lately and are on a four-game winning streak. They have scored four or more goals in each of those games. Buffalo last played on Saturday April 23 when they defeated the New York Islanders, 5-3. Thompson is on a six-game point streak with five goals and four assists. Four of those goals have been recorded during their win streak.

See ya tonight!