Event: Boston Bruins vs. Buffalo Sabres
Date/Time: Saturday, November 12, 2011 - 7 p.m. EDT.
Location: TD Garden (Capacity: 17,565), Boston, MA.
Broadcast Info: Saturday's game between the Bruins and Sabres will be broadcast live on NESN. The game can also be heard on the 98.5 the Sports Hub Radio Network, with Dave Goucher providing play-by-play, and Bob Beers providing analysis.
Last Time Out: Both teams have had limited time in between games to rest. The Bruins played on Thursday against the Oilers, where they scored six times to earn their fourth straight win. Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin led the way for the offense, as the Bruins finally found their way back to .500.
The Sabres on the other hand just came off a 5-1 win over the Senators last night. With 20 points, Buffalo sits 5th in the Eastern Conference. The team has been red hot as of late, also winning its last four games. Jhonas Enroth recorded his fifth win, and remains undefeated so far this year. He also boasts a .956 Save percentage and a 1.34 goals against average.
Storyline: Both teams are feeling pretty good right now and are entering with confidence. Most likely Ryan Miller will be facing off against Tim Thomas which will provide some intrigue right from the get go. Both teams have explosive offenses, so playing defense will be key in this game. The Bruins are still without defenseman Andrew Ference after he left the game in the second period against the Oilers on Thursday with an "undisclosed lower body injury." Steven Kampfer will fill in there. Daniel Paille will most likely be out after his surgery and Rich Peverley is still an unknown for this game.
But that didn’t stop the Bruins before, and they hope to bring the same momentum they had before back to TD Garden ice.
The Sabres are coming off their fourth set of back-to-back games this season, after playing Ottawa last night. Their record in that first game is 2-1-0, but the second of the two games, they remain undefeated at 3-0-0. The Bruins have had their fair share of trouble against teams who play in back-to-back nights already, so they will have to try and score quickly to try and jump ahead of Buffalo early.
Players To Watch: An obvious player that everyone will be watching (including the entire Bruins lineup) is Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek who has led his team with the first goal in a game four times this season. Against a team that prides itself in stealing the momentum quickly, the Bruins will have to make sure they try and contain Vanek before the game slips away from them. Vanek is also tied for first in the league with power play goals, so the Bruins will have to try extra hard to stay out of the penalty box.
Meanwhile, Lucic will be in everyone’s scope as well. With his five-game goal streak, he’s bound to do something on the ice.
Prediction: This will be a fun game to watch. It seems every game in the past couple of weeks has been a good matchup, but this one will certainly be entertaining. The first time these two teams are meeting this season and it’s already an important game for both to come out and win. With the hot streak both teams are on, it will be a thriller. Final Score: Bruins 5, Sabres 4.
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