Final: Bruins 4, Sabres 1 - B's take care of business

The Bruins will continue their four-game road trip with a matchup against the Sabres on Thursday night.  Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. Follow along for updates from Thursday's game.

WHO: Bruins (15-8-4) vs. Sabres (6-18-4)

WHEN: 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: KeyBank Center

TV: NESN

RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub

LIVE BOX SCORE: NHL.com 

LIVE COVERAGE:



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Pastrnak fires one home. 4-1 Bruins.

Now on 5v3 for 46 seconds.

Back on the power play.

Smith nearly gets another.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1372712650514300928

End Second: That's much better.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1372710329860374528

B's firmly tilting the ice in their favor now. Still, you'd like for there to be more breathing room.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1372706569729740807

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Back on the power play.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1372704824928649222

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Well, that was brutal. 1-1 game.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1372701218863247362

Second period is a go.

End First: Really not a good period from Boston.

Buffalo hovering around.

Poor D-zone puck play there from Boston.

2-on-1 rush from the second line almost leads to a DeBrusk goal.

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Puck is dropped.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1372687271200165888

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LINEUPS 

BOSTON

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie -- Charlie Coyle -- Oskar Steen
Trent Frederic -- Greg McKegg -- Karson Kuhlman

Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy
Jakub Zboril -- Connor Clifton
Jack Ahcan -- Steven Kampfer

Jaroslav Halak
Dan Vladar

Scratched: Jack Studnicka, Anders Bjork

Injured: John Moore (undisclosed) Jarred Tinordi (upper body), Zach Senyshyn (upper body), Tuukka Rask (undisclosed), Ondrej Kase (upper body), Brandon Carlo (upper body), Jeremy Lauzon (fractured hand), Kevan Miller (knee)

COVID-19 Protocol: Sean Kuraly

BUFFALO

Taylor Hall -- Riley Sheahan -- Tage Thompson
Victor Olofsson -- Eric Staal -- Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner -- Curtis Lazar -- Casey Mittelstadt
Tobias Rieder -- Cody Eakin -- Kyle Okposo

Jacob Bryson -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Colin Miller
Henri Jokiharju -- Brandon Montour

Carter Hutton
Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Matt Irwin
Injured: Dylan Cozens (upper body), Jack Eichel (upper body), Linus Ullmark (lower body), William Borgen (forearm)

PREGAME NOTES:

Both teams canceled their morning skate Thursday due to a Bruins player and a member of the Sabres hockey staff each entering NHL COVID-19 protocol — however, following more rapid testing, the NHL announced that the game would continue as scheduled. Sean Kuraly was the Bruins player placed on the COVID-19 Protocol list, and will not play on Thursday.

With Jarred Tinordi out due to injury, Jack Ahcan will make his NHL debut on the blue line tonight. I wrote a feature about Ahcan this past winter, detailing his road to Boston. I think he's going to be a very good pro.

With Kuraly out, Greg McKegg will slot into the fourth line, while Oskar Steen will remain in the lineup. Jaroslav Halak gets the start in net. David Krejci needs one point to become the eighth player in Bruins history to record 700 regular-season points with the franchise.

The Sabres relieved coach Ralph Krueger of his duties early Wednesday morning, with Thursday standing as interim coach Don Granato's first game as Buffalo's new bench boss. The Sabres are 0-9-1 in their last 10 games.