Preview: Bruins return home to face Sabres

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, SNO, SNP, SNE, 98.5 The Sports Hub

• Rival SBN site: Die By The Blade

Know your enemy

• 31-24-4, 66PTS, tied for 4th in Atlantic Division
• Tage Thompson: 59GP, 41G, 39A, 80PTS; Alex Tuch: 57GP, 28G, 34A, 62PTS; Rasmus Dahlin: 56GP, 14G, 48A, 62PTS
• Craig Anderson: 9-8-2, 2.77 GAA, .918 save percentage; Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: 15-8-2, 3.57 GAA, .893 save percentage

Game notes

• The Bruins return home after a four-game, undefeated road trip to face the Buffalo Sabres as they look to extend their current eight-game win streak.
• It’s going to be hard to top that road trip that had a little bit of everything – literally! From a wild scoring game, a huge shot deficit where they still won, to oh yea, a goalie goal. It’s been a good stretch for the B’s to say the least, with contributions running throughout the lineup.
• The home fans will get their first glimpse of Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway in the Spoked B tonight! Orlov already has five points in three games with the Bruins, registering two multi-point nights.
• This is the third meeting between the two clubs this season. The Bruins are 1-1-0 against them and last saw Buffalo on Dec. 31, 2022. The B’s dropped that game, 4-3, in overtime on Tuch’s winning goal.
• Bergeron leads the Bruins with three goals against the Sabres in the two games. Marchand has registered four points, and Pastrnak has three points against them. For the Sabres, Thompson scored in each game. Tuch has three points against the Bruins.
• The Sabres are 3-2-0 in their last five games. They last played on Tuesday, dropping 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Thompson scored in the loss and with the goal, extended his point streak to seven games with six goals and five assists.
• Tonight will be a league-leading showdown of some of the top goal scorers. Currently, Pastrnak and Thompson each have 80 points. Pastrnak edges out Thompson, 42-41, in goals to sit at No. 2 in the NHL for goals.
• It will be a battle between the best and almost worst penalty kill in the league. The Bruins have the best at 86.7% while Buffalo’s PK sits at 31^st, only beating out the Vancouver Canucks, at 72.3%.
• We may see some goals too, as both teams’ average for goals are also some of the best in the NHL. The Sabres average is 3.76 while the Bruins average is 3.73.
• Yesterday, Buffalo traded goalie Erik Portillo to the LA Kings a third-round pick in 2023.
• Injury updates: It looks like the Bruins will be without Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno tonight, who were both injured during the road trip. Hall was already predicted to miss the game.
• See ya tonight!