#3 Buffalo Sabres vs. #6 Boston Bruins

 

#3 Buffalo (45-27-10, 100 pts)

#6 Boston (39-30-13, 91 pts)
 
 
Regular season series (Bruins leads 4-2)

Nov 7, 2009	Buffalo 2, Boston 4
Nov 20, 2009	Boston 2, Buffalo 1
Jan 29, 2010	Boston 1, Buffalo 2
Feb 9, 2010	Boston 3, Buffalo 2
Mar 29, 2010	Buffalo 3, Boston 2
Apr 8, 2010	Buffalo 1, Boston 3

 
 
Buffalo Key Numbers
Power Play: 17.5%
Penalty Kill: 86.8%
Face-off: 48.5%
Last month: 5-5-0
Major injuries: Tim Connelly, Drew Stafford (day to day)
 
 

Boston Key Numbers
Power Play: 16.4%
Penalty Kill: 86.3%
Face-off: 52.6%
Last month: 6-3-1
Major injuries: Marc Savard, Dennis Seidenberg (day to day)
 
 

Click for predictions
 
 
Jesse Liebman:

This series will come down to goaltending. At the end of the day, Ryan Miller trumps Tuuka Rask. People are quick to point out that the Bruins are coming off of a recent win over the Sabres, but they forget that Miller wasn’t in net that night. My friends, Patrick Lalime is no Ryan Miller. Sniper Tomas Vanek is officially back after tallying five goals through Buffalo’s remaining two games. There’s hope center Marc Savard may come back from his concussion woes, but that won’t matter if the Bruins can’t go the distance in this series.

Sabres in 6
 
 

Jeff Hancock:

I think this match-up is the best chance in the East for an upset.  Buffalo can score, but they’re not overbearing on offense.  Boston on the other hand can’t score period.  Tuuka Rask has been playing great for the B’s, but when all is said and done, I’m still taking the best goaltender in the world, Ryan Miller.  This is going to be a close, low scoring series and the Sabres will pull it out in the end.

Buffalo in 7
 
 

Brandon Fox:

The Bruins have been inconsistent at best, but they’ve put together some solid wins to get into the playoffs. They have the worst offense in the league, but freshman goalie Tuuka Rask has kept them in games. Rask is matched up with the Olympic MVP Ryan Miller, who has stood on his head the entire season. The Sabres were a surprise this season, having lost a lot of their star players to free agency. Freshman Tyler Myers is a strong asset on the defensive side. Tim Connolly will need to show their young guns the way in the playoffs.

Buffalo in 6

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