Yes, the Buffalo Sabres are going to present the Bruins with an awful lot of problems in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
But it will hardly be shocking to see the Black and Gold come out on top.
Sixth-seeded Boston (39-30-13) took four of the six games between the teams in the regular season, including two (a 2-1 win on Nov. 20 and a 3-2 win on Feb. 9) in overtime. The B’s outscored the Sabres 15-11 in the six contests, led by seven points (one goal) from Zdeno Chara.
Boston actually picked up more points (26 to 25) in the final quarter of the season than Buffalo. And goalie Tuukka Rask (1.42 GAA vs. the Sabres) statistically outplayed star counterpart Ryan Miller (1.70) head to head.
