Buffalo @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 27, 2019 ) Boston 3, Buffalo 0

The Boston Bruins struggled throughout much of December, but they appear to be back on track after sandwiching a pair of impressive victories around the three-day Christmas break. The Bruins vie for a third straight victory and bid to extend their point streak to seven Sunday night when the Buffalo Sabres visit for the back end of a home-and-home set.

Boston ended a 1-4-4 slide with a 7-3 thumping of Washington before the break and put the clamps on the Sabres with a 3-0 shutout Friday night as red-hot Patrice Bergeron scored twice to support Jaroslav Halak's 50th career shutout. "It's special, but it's a team win right now," Halak told reporters after notching his third shutout of the season. "We did a lot of good things. We just need to keep building on it, keep playing that way." Buffalo is heading in the wrong direction with five losses in its last six games (1-4-1), including four straight on the road in which it has been outscored 17-7. “We’ve got no time to feel sorry for ourselves here,” Sabres first-year coach Ralph Krueger told the media. “What we’ve got to do is come out and get these points back in Boston.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Buffalo, NESN (Boston)

ABOUT THE SABRES (17-15-7): Jeff Skinner's 700th NHL game turned out to be a forgettable milestone after he suffered an upper-body injury that is expected to sideline him for three to four weeks. "You never want to see anyone go down," captain Jack Eichel said of Skinner, a 40-goal scorer last season. "Obviously, Skins is a big part of our team, so you don't want to see him go down." Krueger had Kyle Okposo paired with Eichel and Victor Olofsson while Johan Larsson centered Marcus Johansson and Sam Reinhart at Saturday's practice.

ABOUT THE BRUINS (23-7-9): Bergeron has won the Selke Trophy, which is awarded to the league's top defensive forward, four times over the past eight seasons but he is on a white-hot tear at the other end of the ice. Bergeron has scored twice in three consecutive games, becoming the first Boston player with multiple goals in three in a row since Cam Neely in 1988-89. "Right now it's going in for him," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters of Bergeron. "There was a stretch about a month ago it seemed like he couldn't buy a goal."

OVERTIME

1. Bruins LW Brad Marchand has consecutive three-point games overall and 13 points in his last nine meetings versus Buffalo.

2. Eichel has been held off the scoresheet in consecutive contests after amassing 16 goals and 32 points in his previous 18 games.

3. Bruins RW David Pastrnak has two goals and eight assists during a six-game point streak.

PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Sabres 2