"Old time" hockey tonight in Boston?

   It will be a busy tonight in Boston for the two referee’s and the two linesman. Why you ask? The Sabres come into Bean Town for the first time this season; seeking maybe not revenge but vow to keep their best players safe, something they did very little of last year. In the off-season they made it a goal to get bigger and tougher; by the additions of John Scott and Steve Ott; one can say that has been done.

   Ott’s last two visits to the TD Gardens featured three fights in the first three seconds, two years before Ott was in the middle of everything that featured well over 100 PIM’s.

Not convinced tonight will be different compared to most “revenge games”? The Bruins for the first time all season have announced that rookie enforcer Lane Macdermid will suit up for tonights contest. With Buffalo missing Patrick Kaleta, do they recall Rochester enforcer Nick Tarnasky tonight or is Cody Mccormick healthy enough? I’d be shocked if the Sabres don’t come with more ammo.

This reminds me of a game a few seasons back where the Islanders recalled Michael Haley before a game against the Penguins; which led to 18 majors and well over 200 PIM’s throughout the contest.

Sabres @ Bruins “toughness scorecard”

J Scott       S Thornton

S Ott         L Macdermid

M Folingo G Campbell

M Weber  A Macquaid

Tarnasky? M Lucic

Mcormick? Z Chara

 

Don’t forget the Bruins have others as well that are willing to “get involved”. Other Bruins not named above have had 17 fighting majors compared to 3 by the Sabres.