Sabres at Bruins preview

SABRES (22-13-6) at BRUINS (23-14-4)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NESN, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Eichel previously missed a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday for the Sabres, who ended a three-game losing streak (0-1-2).
The Bruins have won three in a row and will look to match their longest winning streak of the season; their previous four-game winning streak came October 4-13, 2018.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Jeff Skinner has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past 13 games.
Bruins forward David Pastrnak has a three-game point streak (two goals, three assists) and has 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"They're going to come hard and if we can exit the zone fast and get on the attack, that's going to be important for us tonight. Also I think just our checking, when we don't have it, we're going to have to do a good job to get it back." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"I've always said, I think it's cyclical, the power play. You get hot, pucks start going in, other times you're generating good looks and it doesn't. Right now we're in a good run."-- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on the power play, which is 11-for-30 in the past eight games after going three goals without a goal

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Tage Thompson
Remi Elie -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Jason Pominville
C.J. Smith -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Dahlin
Lawrence Pilut -- Zach Bogosian
Linus Ullmark
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Matt Hunwick, Nathan Beaulieu
Injured: Jack Eichel (upper body), Zemgus Girgensons (upper body), Casey Nelson (upper body), Scott Wilson (ankle)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- David Backes
Ryan Donato -- Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson -- Danton Heinen
Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari -- Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Torey Krug -- John Moore
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Colby Cave
Injured:Charlie McAvoy (lower body), Joakim Nordstrom (fractured fibula)

Status report

Each team held an optional morning skate. … Eichel is day-to-day. … Backes returns after a three-game suspension. He replaces Cave in the lineup.

Stat pack

Reinhart has 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in his past 17 games, with at least one point in 15 of those games. … Marchand has three goals in the past two games and has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in the past 12.