The Bruins will look to get back on track against a young, but talented Sabres team Thursday night at KeyBank Center.
WHO: Bruins (0-1-0) at Sabres (0-0-0)
WHEN: 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: KeyBank Center, Buffalo
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE: NHL.com
TICKETS: BSJ ticket partner SeatsForEveryone.com
LIVE COVERAGE
9:46: That'll do it. 4-0 Bruins. Great response from the entire B's roster after Wednesday's blowout.
9:43: Bergeron empty-netter. Brad Marchand with his fourth assist of the night. 4-0 B's.
9:42: Now McAvoy drops the gloves with Sobotka. B's still showing plenty of fight, up by three with 40 seconds to go.
9:38: Halak withstands another barrage of shots. Still not budging.
9:32: Sabres with an extra skater with 4:50 remaining.
9:16: Halak with a great stop on Reinhart. Still 3-0.
9:15: Bruins continuing to hold off the Sabres. 13 minutes remaining.
8:47: End Second: Bruins lead, 3-0. Pastrnak with the lone goal of the period for the B's.
8:43: McAvoy is down. Seems like he took a puck off the skate.
8:41: Well, it finally happened. Pastrnak scores to give the B's a 3-0 lead. Great forechecking leading up to that goal.
8:38: Sabres starting to generate some more sustained pressure. Still, Halak and the B's aren't budging.
8:33: Sean Kuraly with a breakaway, but Carter Hutton with the stop.
8:28: Fantastic shift from the second line and Charlie McAvoy. He was all over the Sabres' zone.
8:18: Grzelcyk with strong defensive play in the neutral zone, picks off a pass and pushes the puck back into Buffalo's zone. He's been much better so far, much more aggressive.
8:17: Nordstom and Acciari with an odd-man rush on the PK. Nordstrom with a nice feed but Acciari can't handle it. Heinen out of the box.
8:15: Bruins heading to the PK. Danton Heinen is whistled for slashing.
8:09: Second period is underway.
8:06: Meanwhile, up in Ottawa:
The Ottawa Senators dropped weird heavy beach balls on the crowd during warmups tonight.
The balls spilled a lot of beer and injured some children.
Photo: Kevin Lee - @BringBackLee pic.twitter.com/K4v1PsQ1q0
— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) October 4, 2018
Bergeron ➡️ Marchand ➡️ Donato.
2-0 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/jfvZ6Tsf3n
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) October 4, 2018
#NHLBruins pregame rushes:
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
DeBrusk – Krejci – Donato
Nordstrom – Acciari – Backes
Heinen – Kuraly – Bjork
Chara – McAvoy
Grzelcyk – Miller
Moore – Carlo
Halak
Rask
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 4, 2018
Our starting lineup. ⚔️#LetsGoBuffalo #Sabres pic.twitter.com/b5dtney6ix
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 4, 2018
- Bruce Cassidy said ahead of Thursday's game that the team was considering a few lineup changes following Wednesday's debacle. What that must mean is that Boston was throwing its forwards into a blender. Donato up on the second line was a logical switch, but that Nordstrom-Acciari-Backes trio is ... something. It will be interesting to see how Anders Bjork fares on a fourth line that actually has quite a bit of skill.
- Despite logging over 30 minutes of ice time in a relief outing Wednesday against the Caps, Jaroslav Halak will get the start in net for the Bruins Thursday — Bruce Cassidy sticking with his original plan of getting both of his goalies reps during the back-to-back set that opens the 2018-19 season.
- For more on the Bruins’ lineup changes and Cassidy’s thoughts a day after Wednesday's blowout, click here.
- The Sabres were a punching bag last season, but Buffalo has good reason to enter this season with a renewed sense of optimism. North Chelmsford’s Jack Eichel is poised for a big year as Buffalo’s new captain, while the Sabres’ countered the loss of Ryan O’Reilly by bringing Jeff Skinner and Conor Sheary into the fold. Oh, and that Rasmus Dahlin kid is a realllllly good.