Need to Know: Bruins at Sabres

BUFFALO - The Bruins may have to change up their goaltending plans on Wednesday night in Buffalo after the scheduled starter, Linus Ullmark, "tweaked something" during morning skate. If Ullmark is unable to go, Jeremy Swayman - who is celebrating his 23rd birthday - will get the call between the pipes.
"We're not sure on that, it will have to be a game-time decision. I just found out literally five minutes ago," coach Bruce Cassidy said shortly after the pregame skate ended.

Cassidy added that the plan was for Wednesday's starter to also play on Friday afternoon against the New York Rangers with Thursday scheduled to be a team off day.
"All things considered, [Thursday's] an off-day, you don't skate on Friday morning - that's a long time to be off," said Cassidy. "That's a little bit of what we thought about. We'll revisit that after tonight. Whoever doesn't go Friday would go Sunday. That's kind of how we set up the rotation."
Regardless of who starts in net, Boston will be aiming to bounce back from their 4-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday night - which snapped a three-game winning streak - with Cassidy looking for his club to put forth a better start and stronger positioning from his forwards.
"Need to be on time," said Cassidy. "We've typically been pretty good about that, cleaner execution from the back end, in terms of our first touch. Get going a little more straight ahead in that regard. And then our puck support was something we worked on [in practice on Tuesday], some basic drills, in our lanes, and in our spots a little quicker, not as much ad lib."
Here's everything else you need to know ahead of the 7 p.m. puck drop on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

Buffalo Born and Bred

Nick Foligno was just a toddler when his father, Mike, was playing for Buffalo but the Bruins winger has fond - and vivid - memories of enjoying the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the Sabres' home from 1970-96.
"We moved out of here in '91 - I would have been only four - but I remember the Aud had a spiral staircase in the weight room, so I was running up and down that thing, running all around the arena," Foligno recalled on Wednesday. "Just the boards, too, used to make such a loud noise even if it wasn't a big hit. I just remember that and a lot of the games. And as a kid I got to play between periods one time as a little mini mite. Those are all the memories of the Aud."
Cassidy is hoping to see Foligno - still searching for his first tally in the Spoked-B - pull out his dad's signature goal celebration on Wednesday night in his old hometown.
"Haven't seen the goal celebration yet because he hasn't scored so I want to see him jump up in the air," said Cassidy. "That was always, to me, Mike Foligno. You always saw a hard-nosed guy, good on the walls, get to the front of the net, old school type of winger. I think Nick has some of that in him."
Foligno concurred with his coach, saying that he takes pride in modeling his work ethic after his father's rough-and-tumble style, which was a thorn in the Bruins' side during their battles with the Sabres throughout the 1980s.
"I think there'd probably be some similarities for sure. I obviously watched him a ton growing up," said Foligno. "I think anytime you have a parent that played, you're gonna pull things from their game. I think the biggest thing is just our work ethic. The way my dad played, he played with his heart and soul, and I try to do the same thing.
"I was proud of his career. You try to forge your own path - and maybe there's some differences as well in the game, but I think I'm proud to say I play a little bit like him and probably have a lot of attributes like him."

Foligno acknowledged that his dad probably has the edge in the goal scoring department - Mike notched 355 in 1,018 career games, while Nick has potted 203 in 964 games - but noted that he also takes plenty of pride in contributing to the team in multiple ways.
"The goalies were just not that good back then," Foligno joked. "I'm eager to score. That's definitely the next part of the progression here. Hopefully tonight…it will be nice to get on the scoreboard for the guys. I think I do a lot of other things well but that's something I take pride in is being on the offensive side of things too and knowing I can help there. That's the next step of coming back here is getting going offensively and helping the group. I think it will bode well for everybody."
Cassidy has been pleased with Foligno's overall effort since his return from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for eight games, pointing specifically to the 34-year-old's work in the net-front position on Boston's top power-play unit and on the B's second line alongside Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle.
"He's done a good job recovering pucks, he's done a good job as a screen," said Cassidy. "I think he just has to find his pace, get some games under his belt. He missed some time, some time at the end of last year. Just get playing and then we'll worry about where he best fits by position and even line.
"I like him with Coyle and Hall because he'll go to the net, a good net presence. He did that with [Erik] Haula and [Jake] DeBrusk as well. That's one of the reasons he's there but he could toggle back and forth."

Opposing View

After a 5-1-1 start, the Sabres are 2-7-1 over their last 10 games and carry a three-game losing streak into Wednesday's matchup with the Bruins. Tage Thompson paces the Sabres with 13 points and eight goals in 18 games. Former Bruins winger Anders Bjork, who has played every game this season, has three goals and an assist.
Buffalo will start Aaron Dell between the pipes on Wednesday night. Dell has suited up for just four games (two starts) this season with an 0-3-0 record to go along with a 3.72 goals against average and .874 save percentage.
Boston won the first matchup of the season between the teams, a 4-1 victory on Oct. 22 with Ullmark making 35 saves in his Bruins debut.

Wait, There's More

• The Bruins will debut their new defense pairings against the Sabres with Matt Grzelcyk moving up to play with Charlie McAvoy and Derek Forbort shifting down to skate with Brandon Carlo. "I'd like to see Grizz find his game a little bit, a little more confidence attack-wise. They tend to bring out the best in each other a lot of nights," said Cassidy. "We wanted to look at other combinations with Forbort…I think Forby's been as advertised, for the most part…the focus for that pair is just shutdown whoever you're playing against."
• Trent Frederic, who has missed the last five games with an upper-body injury, was a full participant in practice for the second straight day. "Freddy is getting close," said Cassidy. "Just a lack of practice. A live practice [on Tuesday] was good for him. He got some work in. The conditioning factor when you miss that long is still an issue. No practice [on Friday] is an issue. I would say he'd be targeting a little later in the week…I think he needs more reps. And Blidh has done has job. He's done what's asked. He's been fine in his role, been consistent, discipline's been good. He's been effective on the forecheck, he's made a few plays, blocked some shots. There's no hurry to take a guy out that's playing well either. Have to consider that."

Wednesday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - Charlie Coyle - Nick Foligno
Jake DeBrusk - Erik Haula - Craig Smith
Anton Blidh - Tomas Nosek - Curtis Lazar
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Derek Forbort - Brandon Carlo
Mike Reilly - Jakub Zboril
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark/Jeremy Swayman