Sabres at Bruins
The Boston Bruins will host the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden in the first sporting event to take place in Beantown since the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The Bruins' home game against the Ottawa Senators on Monday was postponed in the wake of explosions near the finish line of the 26.2-mile race. Two days removed from the tragedy, Boston will attempt to secure at least one point to earn its sixth consecutive postseason berth.
The Bruins sit one point behind Northeast Division-leading Montreal despite putting forth lackluster performances in their last two outings. Boston suffered a 2-1 setback to the surging New York Islanders on Thursday before inexplicably dropping a 4-2 decision to reeling Carolina two nights later. Buffalo has won five of its last seven outings to move within four points of the eighth-place New York Rangers.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2
ABOUT THE SABRES (18-19-6): While Buffalo is the road team, Nathan Gerbe knows Boston very well. In fact, the former Boston College star is very familiar with Boylston Street - the site where the explosions took place. "You know exactly where it is. I've walked past there I couldn't even tell you how many times," Gerbe told The Buffalo News on Tuesday. "At times for yourself, you thank God for keeping you safe. But something like this happening is embarrassing for our world to affect innocent people and innocent children."
ABOUT THE BRUINS (26-11-4): Boston did its best to put the tragic events of Monday on the back burner as it returned to practice. Patrice Bergeron, who expects to return from the fourth concussion of his career, found it difficult as he focused on the bigger picture. "There's not many words that can be said right now; it's tragic," Bergeron said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families involved," Bergeron has seen his team post a 3-3-0 mark since being sidelined by an elbow from Ottawa's Colin Greening on April 2.
OVERTIME
1. G Jhonas Enroth turned aside all 29 shots he faced in Buffalo's 1-0 win over Philadelphia on Saturday before finishing with 32 saves in a 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay the next night.
2. Boston's game against Ottawa on Monday has been rescheduled to April 28.
3. Buffalo recalled C Mikhail Grigorenko from the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The 12th overall pick of the 2012 draft, Grigorenko collected one goal and four assists in 22 games.