Pregame notes: Boston Bruins @ Buffalo Sabres | Game 5

(AP photo/Elise Amendola) Patrice Bergeron and the Boston Bruins look to close-out
this series against the Sabres in Game 5 tonight at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.

What: Game 5 Eastern Conference quarterfinals
When: Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 7:00 p.m.
Where: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.
Watch: NESN (HD) CBC (HD)
Hear: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

Coming off a thrilling 3-2 double-overtime victory at the TD Garden on Wednesday night, the Bruins have taken a commanding 3-1 lead as they head into the HSBC Arena tonight. With the momentum rolling along, the B's could close-out this series and, akin to last season, look at another extended period of time off between series.

Buffalo outplayed Boston for a better part of that Game 4, but Bruins' net-minder Tuukka Rask was the X-Factor once again. The 23-year-old has been nothing short of sensational, not only in this series, but all season long. Rask (see above) is edging-out Vezina nominee Ryan Miller in major statistics, including the most important one of all: wins/losses.

As anticipated, this series between these two Divisional rivals has been...

1. Physical: 334 total hits - BUF: 171, BOS: 163
2. Low scoring: two 2-1 games, 5-3 (one ENG), and 3-2 (2OT)
3. Battle of the goaltenders: 250 total saves on 268 shots-against

One question mark entering this playoff series was Boston's blue-line, or lack thereof. With Dennis Seidenberg (wrist/forearm) out for essentially the rest of the season, and Mark Stuart (finger) out for the first round, AHL call-up Adam McQuaid and banged-up (groin) Andrew Ference have had limited ice time this far -- 11:38 and 15:31 minutes respectively. Aside from Zdeno Chara -- who we knew was going to get the bulk of the time on ice, 29:58 avg. thus far -- but Johnny Boychuk, Matt Hunwick, and Dennis Wideman have stepped-up and logged more minutes than accustomed. Boychuk jumped from his 17:39 minutes average over the 2009-10 regular season to 26:38 in this quarterfinals series; Wideman from 23:33 average to 26:16; and Hunwick's minutes went from 17:57 to 24:07 of average ice time.

Marc Savard update:

On Tuesday afternoon, Marc Savard passed his neuropsychological testing. He will continue to work towards regaining his game shape, and will have a final meeting with Dr. Kelly McInnis at MassGeneral Hospital before being cleared to play in games. There is no date or time line

Odds n' ends:

• The Bruins are 25% (3-for-12) on the power play in this series. At the end of the regular season, Boston's man-advantage was an anemic 16.6%
• On the penalty kill, the B's have killed-off all 14 times short (100%) over the past four games this series
• The Sabres have lit the lamp first in all four games in this quarterfinals' series. During the regular season, Buffalo held a 31-6-4 record when scoring the first goal of the game; and the Bruins went 11-22-9 when allowing the first goal.
• The Black-and-Gold  are 28-15 lifetime when winning Game 4 of a best-of-seven series; and 14-1 when they are up 3-1 in such series'

Bruins' playoffs leaders:

Points: Bergeron (4)
Goals: Bergeron, Chara, Recchi, Ryder (2)
Assists: Hunwick (3)
Shots on goal: Chara (16)
Penalty minutes: Andrew Ference (14)
Plus/Minus: Bergeron (plus-2)
Hits: Sobotka (23)
Blocked shots: Boychuk (11)
Time on ice: Chara (29:58), Boychuk (26:38)

Sabres recalled eight players from their AHL affiliate, Portland Pirates
Thomas Vanek skated again on Thursday, and will be a gametime decision

For more Sabres news, check out David Olesky and Co. over at Die By The Blade.com from SBNation.com

Get all of your 2009-10 NHL Playoffs news and notes here on Examiner.com

Follow Mark on Twitter and over at his blog, The Hub of Hockey.net