Boston Bruins: 5 Keys to Matchup with the Buffalo Sabres

The Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres will put their four-game winning streaks on the line at the TD Garden Saturday night.

Besides the endeavor to keep stoking their fire, the divisional rivals also have conflicting desires in terms of the standings. The second-place Sabres trail Toronto by one point while the fourth-place Bruins trail Ottawa by the same margin.

As it happens, the Battle of Ontario is also being renewed Saturday. This means a combination of a Senators win and a Sabres win, both in regulation, would let Buffalo pole-vault the Leafs and make life a little harder for the Bruins as they continue their efforts to make amends for a 3-7-0 October.

Conversely, if Boston and Toronto both prevail, the Sabres and Senators will both be flustered.

Five other storylines worth considering for this showdown are as follows.

Goal-fest Ahead?

The Bruins enter this game with the third-best offense in the league, averaging 3.21 goals per game. The Sabres are fifth on that leaderboard with a median of 3.07 strikes per night.

Moreover, both teams are fostering an active succession of eruptions. The Bruins have averaged precisely six goals in each of their last four outings, scoring no fewer than five on a protected net in each of those bouts. Buffalo is reeling off a 6-5 overtime triumph over Winnipeg and a 5-1 lashing of Ottawa on Friday.

On the flipside, Buffalo and Boston are seventh and eighth, respectively, on defense. And they are tied with Pittsburgh for the league’s second-best goal differential at plus-13.

But based on the recent treks of Ryan Miller, who allowed five goals in his last start in that aforementioned Winnipeg game, and the Sabres’ offense, banking on a goaltenders’ duel is a risky bet.

That still applies even if Jonas Enroth is given the nod for the second time in as many nights.

Contrasts in the Crease

Miller snapped a personal four-game losing streak with his latest appearance on Tuesday, but not without those five goals-against. And he has let in at least three in each of his last four outings for a total of 15. That includes one that lasted a mere 6:23, at which point he was forced out after Philadelphia beat him thrice on 11 shots.

Conversely, Tim Thomas will enter Saturday’s contest having had a full week off from game action. His last time out, he laid the Bruins’ first goose-egg of the season with a 7-0 road win over the Northeast Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs.

Assuming these two veterans square off on Saturday, it will be a battle of self-assurance versus determination.

Sabres Guns

Derek Roy had only one goal in his first 12 outings of the season. Now he has four, along with three assists, in his last three right after splashing a nine-game goal-scoring drought.

Thomas Vanek is one of only five NHLers to have already cracked double-digits under the goal heading.

As a team through five games this month, the Sabres have charged up 16 regulation goals off the sticks of 12 different scorers.

Top-notch Top Six

With sophomore partner Marc-Andre Gragnani, Sabres’ defenseman Christian Ehrhoff ought to be fairly familiar with Boston’s strike force, having been a member of the Vancouver Canucks up through last year’s Stanley Cup final.

On the other hand, like the rest of the NHL, Ehrhoff has not had to deal with a prolific Tyler Seguin until this autumn. And he can only be on the ice for so many minutes as the Bruins seek to snowball more productivity from the Patrice Bergeron-Seguin-Brad Marchand line and the Nathan Horton-David Krejci-Milan Lucic troika.

It will be on Buffalo’s blue line as a whole to keep Boston’s streaking scorers from pestering Miller too much. At the same time, the Bruins may want to ask for a little more out of Chris Kelly, Jordan Caron, Benoit Pouliot and the like.

Special Teams Arm Wrestle

Boston’s power play, which has converted at least once in each of its last four games, has an 18.5 success rate, only one point below Buffalo’s 18.6 percent. The Sabres are third in league penalty-killing at 90.7 percent while the Bruins have fended off 87.7 percent of opposing power plays.

Boston has killed 13 out of 14 penalties within this month and all but two in front of Thomas all season.

And for all the seams his opponents have found in recent weeks, Miller has authorized a mere two strikes in his last 20 shorthanded situations. Generally speaking, his skating mates have not committed many infractions in front of him to begin with.

Any man-advantage goal either team can cultivate against each other will brace them with more conviction going forward.