This is the first time since November the Bruins and Sabres will square off.
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View full sizeBoston Bruins' David Krejci has been moved down to the third line centering Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron.Bruins (33-16-2) at Buffalo (22-24-6)
Bruins' last 5: 2-3
Buffalo's last 5: 3-1-1
Game time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Network (Versus)
Radio stream: 98.5 The Sports Hub
This is the third of six meetings between the Northeast Division rivals. Boston won the first two, 6-2 Nov. 12 and 4-3, shootout Nov. 23.
Benoit Pouliot netted the winning and only goal in the fifth round of the shootout to go 2-0 against the Sabres who were looking to respond after receiving flack for not sticking up for goalie Ryan Miller who was run over by Bruins forward Milan Lucic in the first meeting and suffered a concussion.
Two weeks later it got more interesting when Miller told reporters that he wasn't sure if he suffered a concussion at all.
Since their last meeting, the Sabres have dropped off as they're dead last in the division with 50 points.
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff will not be behind the bench due to his rib injury. Ruff broke three ribs during a freak accident during Monday's practice.
Assistant coach James Patrick will call the shots on the bench.
With Bruins forward Nathan Horton still out with a concussion, Bruins coach Claude Julien has tweaked the lines, sending center David Krejci to the third line with Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron while Lucic is playing with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley on the top line.
Horton skated for the first time last Sunday since his diagnosed concussion Jan. 22.
This will be his sixth straight game missed with no timetable for his return.
Julien announced that Tuukka Rask will start in goal as Tim Thomas started in back-to-back games against Pittsburgh and Washington.
Possible Bruins lineup:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-David Krejci-Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Healthy scratch: Steven Kampfer
B's notes: The Bruins bounced back from their Saturday loss to Pittsburgh with a convincing 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley scored for Boston. Peverley sealed it with an empty net goal with 41 seconds left in regulation.
Tim Thomas finished with 35 saves to improve to 22-10 with a 2.11 goals against average and .934 save percentage.
Thomas was the losing goalie in the Bruins' 2-1 loss to the Penguins. Boston couldn't climb itself out of a 2-0 hole early in the third period and didn't score until 6:45 with a goal by defenseman Joe Corvo who scored for the first time in 21 games.
Sabres' notes: Buffalo is coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders Saturday.
The Sabres overcame a 3-1 first period deficit and scored in the second and third period to force overtime. Jason Pominville had the deciding goal in the shootout.
Ryan Miller made 35 saves to improve to 14-15-3 with a 2.88 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Other notes: Marchand has three goals and three assists in his last six games...Miller is 3-0-1 in his last four starts allowing just five goals with a .959 save percentage.