NHL Preview from The Sports Network
Sunday, February 10th
(All times Eastern)
Boston Bruins (7-1-1) at Buffalo Sabres (5-6-1), 7 p.m.
(Sports Network) - Thanks to the blizzard that wreaked havoc on the New
England area this weekend, the Boston Bruins found themselves with an extra
day of rest on Saturday.
The Bruins hope the unexpected off-day can help them post a third straight
victory when they visit the Buffalo Sabres for Sunday's battle at First
Niagara Center.
Boston was scheduled to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday before being
slammed by the massive winter storm, which began on Friday and lasted well
into the next day.
NHL officials did their best to prepare for the storm the day before the
scheduled game, pushing the start time from 1 p.m. (ET) to 7 p.m., but
that still wasn't enough time to outlast the effects of the weather.
In a statement, the NHL said even though both teams and the on-ice officials
were in Boston the game was postponed because "travel conditions remain
too hazardous for fans, security personnel and TD Garden staff to get to the
arena."
A makeup date has yet to be announced.
The Bruins were able to make the trip to Buffalo on Saturday night and are
ready to face the Sabres for a second time this season. Boston hosted the
Sabres on Jan. 31 and Buffalo posted a 7-4 blowout victory in that one. Thomas
Vanek had a five-point night with a hat trick and a pair of assists to help
Buffalo hand the Bruins their first and only regulation loss of the season.
Buffalo has taken three of the last five meetings against Boston and the
Bruins have dropped two straight and four of five in Western New York.
Boston is 3-0-1 on the road this season.
The Bruins last played on Wednesday, when they notched a 2-1 victory in
Montreal. Boston fell behind in the second period, but won thanks to early
third-period goals by Tyler Seguin and David Krejci.
Seguin and Krejci each added an assist and Tuukka Rask made 20 saves to
improve to 6-1-1 on the season.
Boston hopes the extra day will allow one of their injured players to return,
but Shawn Thornton (concussion), Daniel Paille (eye) and Brad Marchand (upper
body) are all expected to sit out on Sunday.
The Sabres played on the road Saturday and came away with a thrilling 3-2
victory over the New York Islanders. Alexander Sulzer scored the go-ahead goal
in the third period and Ryan Miller delivered a stellar performance in net,
giving Buffalo the victory at Nassau Coliseum.
Miller recorded 41 saves, as well as a game-saving stop of John Tavares on a
penalty shot with 3:53 left to play, as Buffalo earned its second straight
victory despite being outshot by a 43-15 margin on the night.
"Ryan made the big saves when we needed them," said Sabres head coach Lindy
Ruff.
Vanek contributed to the triumph with his league-leading 11th goal of the
season along with an assist. Christian Ehrhoff also tallied a goal for the
Sabres and Cody Hodgson added a pair of assists.
Vanek, who also has an NHL-best 23 points on the season, has recorded 28 goals
and 26 assists in 46 career games against Boston.
02/10 10:43:52 ET

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