After losing 10 games in a row, the Boston Bruins avoided an 11th straight on Saturday night at the TD Garden with a dominating 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Since selling at the trade deadline, the three wins the Black and Gold have are over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Hurricanes. Go figure.
Now, the Bruins head to Buffalo for a game with the Sabres and two teams near the bottom of the basement in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo enters the game one point ahead of Boston, which is tied with the Philadelphia Flyers with 71 points. Here are three things to look for just after 6 p.m. on Sunday night.
Joonas Korpisalo between the pipes
With Jeremy Swayman beating Carolina on Saturday night, it'll be Joonas Korpisalo getting the net in Western New York on Sunday night. He has been better than most people thought when he was acquired from the Ottawa Senators as part of the Linus Ullmark trade last June.
You can make the case that this season, the Bruins play better when Korpisalo is between the pipes. We'll do that more in-depth when the season is over, but expect Korpisalo to show out in one of the few chances he'll get the rest of the season.
David Pastrnak is on a heater
The chase for 100 points is still on for David Pastrnak, thanks in part to his five-point performance against Carolina. He had three goals and two assists in the victory and now has 94 points on the season. A 100-point season with the season the Bruins are having would be amazing. He is one of the many reasons why fans still turn into games.
Who wants to tank more?
The winner of this game will likely be out of the race for the basement and a Top 5 pick. Going into the game, Buffalo, which knocked off the Lightning in a shootout Saturday night, is one point up on the Black and Gold, who are tied with the Flyers for last place in the Eastern Conference but own the tiebreaker.
Buffalo has won two of the three matchups this season and can go three points up on the Bruins with a regulation win. The last game, won by the Sabres last month in Boston, was one of the more frustrating losses of the season when Buffalo scored a power play goal in the extra session after a missed penalty on the Sabres seconds before.