The Boston Bruins head into a home-and-home set against the Buffalo Sabres having won two of their past seven games and three of their past 11. The Bruins lead the Sabres by six points for third place in the Atlantic Division; however, Buffalo has three games in hand, which makes the next two games vital for each team. "There should be some [desperation]," coach Claude Julien said. "At the end of the day there's still two wins and there's also some overtime losses and we're gaining some points but we're not gaining enough. We need to win this one and focus on what's ahead of us and not what's behind us… We need to worry about ourselves here and what we need to do in order to win some hockey games." Boston's top line of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak has been quiet recently. Bergeron has a goal and an assist in his past 11 games, Marchand has three goals and six assists in his past 13 games but a goal and an assist in his past five games. Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 19 goals but has no points in his past four games. "I think with our line in general, we normally end up playing against the top [defensive] pair or top line in general," Marchand said. "We're used to that and that's how it is all around the league. It's nothing new that we're getting used to… We definitely get a little attention and that's fine. We're used to doing the same thing to other team's top lines." The Bruins had an optional morning skate and Tuukka Rask will likely be the starter.
