Buffalo Sabres PreGame Skate: Boston Bruins

Less than 24 hours after the final horn sounded on last night’s 1-0 loss to the Florida Panthers, the Buffalo Sabres will hit the ice at the First Niagara Center again as they host the Boston Bruins in a 7 p.m. Saturday evening matchup.

The Buffalo Sabres head into tonight’s game on the heels of last night’s 1-0 loss. The Sabres are currently last in the Atlantic Division with a 1-4-0 record and two points on the season. The Bruins sit two spots ahead, with a 2-4-0 record. The Bruins are also coming off a loss, suffered at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, 6-4.

Both teams are looking to break out of a slump and get back on the winning track, but it won’t be easy.

Leading the way for Boston so far this season has been centers Chris Kelly and Carl Soderberg, who each have one goal and three assists on the season. Right winger Loui Eriksson and center Patrice Bergeron, along with Reilly Smith and David Krejci, all have three points on the year. Captain Zdeno Chara leads the team with 19 shots on goal in six games.

Of course, one of the Boston players being talked about in the news lately is forward Milan Lucic, who received a $5,000 fine after making an obscene gesture towards Habs fans during the game on Thursday. Many Buffalo Sabres still feel a deep distaste for Lucic due to the Miller incident a few years ago, and he continues to get his name out there, and not in a good way.

For the Sabres, Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno each have three points on the season. Prior to last night’s game against the Panthers, Foligno was on a three-game point streak. Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons each have a pair of goals on the season. Chris Stewart and Brian Gionta lead the team with 11 shots each.

Jhonas Enroth has arguably been the standout player for the Buffalo Sabres in this young season so far. Despite the Sabres having allowed over 40 shots in three of five games, Enroth has continually put up big performances and helped keep the team in the running for victories. He’s already faced 147 shots in four games this season and has a .912 save percentage. Enroth is doing everything he can to keep the Buffalo Sabres in it — now the team just needs to help him out.

Tonight’s game is the first of four meetings between the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins this season. The teams will meet once more this month in Buffalo, coming together on October 30th once more. Three players who could be crucial parts of a Buffalo Sabres victory tonight against the Boston Bruins are Foligno, Gionta and Stafford. Foligno had five points in as many games against the Bruins last season, while both Gionta and Stafford have 25 career points against Boston.

The teams last met on April 12 when the Bruins defeated Buffalo by a score of 4-1. That was the game that saw Matt Hackett get injured and forced Connor Knapp to make his NHL debut, being the sixth goalie to play for the Sabres last season. That was also the game where Chris Stewart, Matt D’Agostini, Brian Flynn and Christian Ehrhoff to injury.

Let’s hope for better results on all fronts tonight.

Keep an eye on the Bruins in tonight’s game, as they’re currently averaging 29.2 shots per game. While it’s not the highest in the league, they’re shoot often and early, and the Buffalo Sabres will have to be prepared to avoid another 40-shots-against game. Playing the second of a back-to-back series is not usually an easy affair. If nothing else, at least the Sabres had no travel involved in this pair of games with both being at the FNC.

The puck drops tonight at 7 p.m. again at First Niagara Center. Tickets are still available for tonight’s game here.