Bruins at Sabres 3/18/21: Game preview, lineups, and more

The Boston Bruins finally get to face off with the Buffalo Sabres this season after their previous matchups were postponed due to COVID-19 protocol. Although the Sabres are in the midst of a 12-game losing streak, this won’t be an easy win as they just relieved Ralph Krueger from his coaching duties.

The B’s will be going into this one fresh off an exciting win that saw them end two streaks, their own two-game losing streak and the Pittsburgh Penguins six-game winning streak.

Tonight, they’ll be looking to extend streaks — their one-game win streak to two games and Buffalo’s 12-game losing streak to 13 games.

But, as I said earlier, the Sabres will be looking to prove something after their head coach was just fired. Boston will most likely have to endure an early push from Buffalo, even though the Sabres are without captain Jack Eichel and rookie Dylan Cozens.

Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres projected lineups.

Boston Bruins
Record: 15-8-4 (34 points)

The B’s and Sabres both couldn’t hold morning skate this morning due to a Buffalo coach and Boston player going into COVID protocol, however, as of right now, the game is still one. But, because there wasn’t a morning skate, it’s a bit harder to know what the lineups will look like.

What I know for certain is that defenseman Jarred Tinordi will miss tonight’s game due to an upper-body injury that he suffered after receiving a hard hit in Tuesday’s game against the Pens.

After the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Urho Vaakanainen playing in place of Tinordi is not a guarantee. Instead, Jack Ahcan could play. Ahcan is a smaller defenseman that likes to join in on the rush, like Matt Grzelcyk and Torey Krug.

Another thing certain about tonight’s lineup is that Jaroslav Halak will be in net. Tuukka Rask is still skating with extras, but is still not ready to get back in net. Hopefully he’s back soon, but the Black and Gold are in good hands with Halak and rookie Dan Vladar, who hopefully gets the next game if Rask isn’t ready.

Although not confirmed, I would expect the rest Boston’s lineup to stay the same as Tuesday’s lineup against Pittsburgh.

Expect the Bruins to look like this tonight:

Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
DeBrusk – Krejci – Smith
Ritchie – Coyle – Steen
Frederic – Kuraly – Kuhlman

Grzelcyk – McAvoy
Zboril – Clifton
Vaakanainen/Ahcan – Kampfer

Halak (Vladar)

Buffalo Sabres
Record: 6-18-4 (16 points)

As I mentioned earlier, the Sabres will be without centers Jack Eichel and Dylan Cozens as they are both out with injuries. Buffalo is also without defenseman Jake McCabe, who is out for the season after messing up his knee, and starting goaltender Linus Ullmark.

Expect the Sabres to look like this tonight:

Hall – Sheahan – Thompson
Rieder – Staal – Reinhart
Olofsson – Eakin – Okposo
Skinner – Lazar – Mittelstadt

Davidson – Ristolainen
Dahlin – Miller
Jokiharju – Montour

Hutton (Johansson)

Where and when to watch Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres.

Time: 7 PM EST

Location: KeyBank Center

TV Broadcast: NESN, MSG-B, ESPN+, TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP

Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub

As I said earlier, the Bruins really shouldn’t take the Sabres easily. Although they’ve lost 12 games straight, they’re still an NHL team with some talented players and could win any given night if they pull it together.