What is the story about?
Just the facts
- When: Tonight, 7:30 PM
- Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA
- How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub, ESPN
- Opposing perspective: Die by the Blade
Know your enemy
- Buffalo leads best-of-seven series, 3-2
- Alex Tuch: 3G-3A-6PTS; Bowen Byram: 3G-2A-5PTS; Tage Thompson: 2G-3A-5PTS
- Alex Lyon: 2-1-0, 1.18 GAA, .953 save percentage
Game notes
- Fresh off of a 2-1 OT win in Buffalo in Game 5, the Bruins return to TD Garden for another do-or-die game against the Buffalo Sabres.
- The B’s will be looking for a slightly, modestly, little bit better effort than their last game at TD Garden, where they turned the puck over with reckless abandon and lost 6-1. Game 5 was an encouraging bounce-back effort, so they’ll need to duplicate that (and then some) if they hope to return to Buffalo for another game.
- Viktor Arvidsson won’t be available for the Bruins as he deals with a lingering injury. When addressing the media, Marco Sturm said (paraphrasing) that while Arvidsson wants to be out there, there are injuries you can play through and injuries you can’t, and he’s dealing with the latter. It’s a tough break for a player who has been great for the Bruins this season.
- Given the result in Game 5 and the lack of any new injuries, I’d imagine Sturm will roll with the same lineup tonight. I could understand the temptation to put James Hagens back in and try to drive some more offense, but Alex Steeves and Mikey Eyssimont both performed well enough in Game 5. If it worked, it’s probably silly to tinker too much at this time of year.
- The Sabres have a few minor questions on their side, with Logan Stanley missing practice on Thursday due to illness. He’s questionable for tonight, with Michael Kesselring likely slotting in if Stanley can’t play. It’s worth while there were no reports of other illness, it’s worth pointing out that Lindy Ruff said Stanley hadn’t eaten, so….the last thing a team needs is a stomach bug circulating in the locker room.
- Rookie Noah Ostlund will be out for Buffalo after suffering a lower-body injury in Game 5. Josh Norris is expected to draw back in.
- The Bruins allowed what had been a struggling Buffalo power play to get on the board in Game 5. The goal came on Buffalo’s first power play and the B’s did kill two others after that, but you hope ending the dry spell doesn’t do anything for Buffalo’s confidence.
- On the other side, the B’s power play has let them down since scoring in each of the first two games of the series. If there was ever a time for what had been a reliably productive unit to come alive, it would be tonight.
- If you’re going to the game tonight, David Pastrnak asks that you be both loud and patient. Politely loud? Do what feels right.
See
ya tonight!
