Bruins hope to gain edge in budding rivalry with Buffalo

BOSTON — It’s not Bruins-Canadiens. That one’s been there forever.

It’s not Bruins-Maple Leafs, which has been juiced by a couple of memorable recent (2013, 2018) playoff series.

Bruins-Sabres is getting there as a rivalry, though, and it’s here on Saturday night (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5), with the B’s hosting at TD Garden.

"Buffalo’s a different team than it used to be," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "They’re [...]

BOSTON — It’s not Bruins-Canadiens. That one’s been there forever.

It’s not Bruins-Maple Leafs, which has been juiced by a couple of memorable recent (2013, 2018) playoff series.

Bruins-Sabres is getting there as a rivalry, though, and it’s here on Saturday night (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5), with the B’s hosting at TD Garden.

“Buffalo’s a different team than it used to be,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’re legit. I think some of our guys who have been around a long time might think of Buffalo as the old Buffalo. Well, things have changed.”

Actually, the long-timers have noticed.

“They’ve gotten way better than they were in the past,” defenseman Torey Krug said. “They work very hard, they’re getting good goaltending — it’s a good matchup for us, always a tough game.”

Each team’s first game of the regular season’s second half is also the last of four meetings between the teams in 2018-19, unless they meet in a playoff series for the first time since 2010. That both have 50 points and are fighting for sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division is significant, but with 40 games remaining apiece, it’s hard to paint Saturday night’s result as pivotal.

“You’d hate to call a game a four-pointer at this time of year,” Cassidy said, “but ... our guys are aware of where people are in the standings. We’re battling Buffalo for position, but we don’t want to overplay the game.”

What the B’s want to do is extend their current winning streak to four games, which would match their longest of the season, and take more concrete steps toward defining their lineup. That’s more feasible now than at most points in the first half, with only two players (defenseman Charlie McAvoy, forward Joakim Nordstrom) sidelined by injury, and veteran forward David Backes returning on Saturday from a three-game NHL suspension for an illegal check to the head of Devils forward Blake Coleman on Dec. 27.

“The second half starts [Saturday],” Cassidy said. “For us, hopefully we’re nailing down our overall game better, identifying roles better. That’s on me, to start: Maybe we’ve got to have a little more consistency in our lines.”

Although the B’s went 3-0-0 during Backes’ suspension, Cassidy said the 34-year-old winger will definitely go right back into the lineup. The coach hadn’t decided on Friday where he would use Backes, but the fact that he’d been playing well (3-6—9 in his last 16 games after going 0-1—1 in his first 17), combined with younger, less-experienced forwards (Colby Cave, Jakov Forsbacka Karlsson, Ryan Donato) either failing to grab or losing their grips on opportunities, means a place will be found for Backes to play.

And Backes, despite serving two suspensions (three games) since last March, says he’ll play the same way he always does.

“I think I’ve really adjusted my game to fit the way the rules are,” he said. “There was no malice intended on the [Coleman] hit. If I was headhunting and looking for some blood, I think maybe I’d need to look in the mirror, but I don’t think that was the case.

“If I take hitting out of my game, I’ll be pretty useless in pretty quick order. I’ll play my game, and let the chips fall where they will.”

The Sabres’ major lineup change on Saturday is a deletion: Captain and scoring leader Jack Eichel (15-34—49) is expected to miss his second game with an upper-body injury, although the Sabres scored a 4-3 victory over the Panthers without him on Thursday to stay even with the B’s. Eichel’s 2-2—4 effort on Dec. 16 at the Garden led to a 4-2 win for the Sabres, and the Bruins have won the two meetings in which Eichel didn’t score — both in Buffalo, most recently last Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime win.

“They’re playing well, they’re playing hard, they won [Thursday] night without their best player, so they’re learning how to win,” said Cassidy, who will start Tuukka Rask in goal Saturday.

“They’ve got a lot of young guys who are up-and-coming, and they’re competing for a playoff spot, like we are. That allows it to be a rivalry right there.”