Quantcast
3 storylines to watch as Bruins invade Buffalo – Metro US

3 storylines to watch as Bruins invade Buffalo

There remains only one reigning champion in Boston, and the Bruins continue their march toward a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship Wednesday against the Sabres in Buffalo. Here are three keys heading into tonight’s game:

Beat the bad teams

The Sabres, ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference with 50 points should be easy pickings. But beating the league’s bottom-feeders has been an issue for the Bruins during the past few weeks. Before knocking off Washington on Sunday, the Bruins had dropped four straight games to non-playoff teams.

What’s their line?

Claude Julien shook up his lines on Sunday, dropping David Krejci to the third line with Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron. The change perked up the offense, which Julien said was his motive for the move, rather than to send a message to any particular player, notably Krejci.

“If I put a guy on the first line to the fourth line, he’s still got to go out there and his responsibility is to give his best,” Julien said. “Our guys are mature enough and they understand that through the season there’s going to be some of those changes and as far as I’m concerned, everybody reacted well.”

Horton still hurtin’

Nathan Horton is expected to miss his sixth straight game after sustaining a concussion. His timetable for a return remains unknown, much the exasperation of Julien, who declared that he would no longer field questions about Horton’s recovery.