Bruins will make two lineup changes vs. Sabres

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has decided to send a message to his blue line following Wednesday’s loss and ahead of Friday’s head-to-head with the Sabres, with Connor Clifton scratched for John Moore.

“I didn’t like the way we defended the other night in terms of keeping the puck out of our net,” Cassidy said. “Johnny had a good camp. We gave Cliffy first crack at it, so we’re not putting it all on Cliffy. So it’s a message that if we don’t defend well enough then we’ll try other people until we get it right. That’s as simple as I can make it.”

As Cassidy noted, Clifton was not the only struggling defender on Wednesday. Speaking after that loss, Cassidy highlighted his second pairing of Mike Reilly and Brandon Carlo as a grouping that needed to give them a bit more. But the call to Moore, who was waived but never actually reported to Providence, comes with the Bruins looking to reward the next-closest option for their efforts and re-spark the idea of internal competition on the blue line.

“We never want to lose an asset,” Cassidy said of Moore’s trip to the waiver wire. “He did his job in exhibition [games] and hopefully that translate into a goad game tonight for us.”

Moore, who played in just five games last year before undergoing season-ending hip surgery, put up two assists, four hits, and seven blocks in three preseason contests.

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  The Bruins will also make a change up front, with Anton Blidh stepping in for the injured Nick Foligno.
  
  Blidh will not be a straight-up Foligno replacement, however, as he'll slot into the fourth-line left wing spot, which will move Trent Frederic to his natural center position, while Karson Kuhlman will remain at right wing on Boston's fourth line.
  
  "Anton is a good penalty killer, can save some wear-and-tear on guys there. He's got good pace to affect the forecheck like [Kuhlman], so there's good speed on that line. It's just a matter of him being consistent every night," Cassidy said. "He likes to be an agitator, but he has to work in a positive fashion. He can't be the guy ending up in the box in those situations. That's something we've talked to him about. If he can put us on the power play by getting other guys off their game, that's a plus."
  
  Overall, Blidh has appeared in 38 NHL games with Boston over the last five years, with two goals and an assist to go with 95 hits and 14 blocked shots.
  
  With Blidh in the lineup on a line with Frederic and Kuhlman, Tomas Nosek will move up to Foligno's spot with Jake DeBrusk and Erik Haula on the Black and Gold's third line.
  
  In net, Linus Ullmark will make his first start in a Bruins uniform.
  
  The Bruins went 7-1-0 against the Sabres last year, and have wins in 13 of their last 15 games at KeyBank Center.

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  Here's the full projected lineup for the Bruins...
  
  Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
  
  Taylor Hall - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
  
  Jake DeBrusk - Erik Haula - Tomas Nosek
  
  Anton Blidh - Trent Frederic - Karson Kuhlman
  
  Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
  
  Mike Reilly - Brandon Carlo
  
  Derek Forbort - John Moore
  
  Linus Ullmark

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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.