After wrapping up a 2-2-1 road trip through the Western Conference, the Boston Bruins return home for the first time in two weeks to face the struggling Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
The Bruins’ trip started with tough losses to Winnipeg and Seattle, but interim head coach Joe Sacco’s squad bounced back with a solid win in Vancouver and an overtime victory against Calgary. Despite a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, Sacco sees the road trip as a positive for the team’s growth.
“I think it is a sign of resilience,” Sacco said. “The way we responded after being down two, you have to admire the way the group came together. We really dug in to get five points from the last three games.”
On an individual level, there have been encouraging performances, such as captain Brad Marchand extending his point streak to eight games—the longest of his career since the 2020-21 season. Morgan Geekie and Marc McLaughlin also showed promise, scoring in back-to-back games leading up to Thursday’s loss.
Goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who has started four of the last five games (2-1-1), continues to build confidence as Boston’s first true No. 1 goaltender.
“It shows the kind of team we have, and the leadership group is a big part of that,” Swayman said. “We didn’t take no for an answer, and that’s really encouraging to see at this point in the year. It’s one game at a time, and I’m really proud of the group.”
The Sabres, who have been mired in the NHL’s longest winless streak this season at 12 games (0-9-3), enter Boston after a tough 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. This marked their second consecutive lopsided defeat, following a 6-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. Buffalo’s power play has also struggled, converting just twice on 37 chances over the past 14 games.
Against the Maple Leafs, Buffalo allowed two early goals and then gave up three more in the second period, forcing coach Lindy Ruff to replace goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with James Reimer. Despite fighting to dig themselves out of the hole, Buffalo came up short.
“There’s a lot of pride in this group, and no one wants to lose this many in a row,” said Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson. “We tried to dig ourselves out of it, and we had two goals disallowed, which didn’t help.”
JJ Peterka, who had a goal and an assist against Toronto, has been a bright spot for Buffalo, registering five points in his last three games.
The Sabres did get a boost Friday with the return of defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who had missed seven games due to back spasms. Dahlin’s return is expected to help the Sabres’ defense, particularly with puck movement and speed, as well as his ability to make big plays.
“We’re a better team with him in the lineup,” said Ruff. “He’s a difference-maker.”
However, Buffalo continues to struggle with injuries. Forward Jordan Greenway (mid-body injury) is expected to miss a significant amount of time after undergoing surgery, while Sam Lafferty (lower body) returned after a nine-game absence.
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