A five-game winning streak brings the Buffalo Sabres (5th in Atlantic Division) to a road clash against the Boston Bruins (1st in Atlantic), who have started the season with a 20-game home point streak with 18 victories.
The Buffalo Sabres (17-14-2) returned to action following the holiday break with their fifth straight victory after beating the Detroit Red Wings with a count of 6-3 at KeyBank Center on Thursday. Kyle Okposo (6 goals, 16 points this year) banked his third NHL career hat trick. Casey Mittelstadt (7 goals, 19 points) tallied twice, while Jeff Skinner (17 goals, 37 points) lit the lamp for the fourth consecutive contest, amassing 12 snipes in his last 12 appearances. The Sabres have won five outings in a row for the first time since a 10-game winning run in November 2018. They are 10-3-2 in their most recent 15 matchups after losing eight fixtures in succession prior (0-8-0).
Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves on Thursday and has now gone 6-3-1 for the season with a 3.40 GAA and a .892 save percentage. He has registered a 1-2- 1 past total versus Boston with a 4.10 GAA and a .899 save percentage, while Craig Anderson (7-4-1 on the year with a 2.65 GAA and a .922 save percentage) is 12-17-0 against the Bruins previously with a 3.15 GAA and a .901 save percentage. The Sabres, meanwhile, are sitting at the top of the league in most goals scored per game (4.00), 10th in most goals allowed on average (3.39), 2nd in power play (29.4%) and 25th in penalty kill (73.2%).