The Bruins, back in the playoff hunt after a 5-1-1 stretch, take on a Sabres team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The B’s could be without Brandon Carlo, who Sacco said was “a little under the weather.” Carlo, who was sporting nasty gash and bruise on his cheekbone courtesy of stray puck in the win over Colorado on Saturday, did practice with the team on Monday and traveled to Buffalo but did not take Tuesday’s morning skate. He’s a game-time decision.

The Sabres have the assets to entice Vancouver into a trade. The bigger question is what, exactly, Buffalo might have to give up.

The Sabres return home for an Atlantic Division showdown. The Buffalo Sabres face the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at KeyBank Center, aiming to put their 1-3-0 road trip, which ended with a 3-2 loss Saturday in Edmonton, behind them.

The two teams played on in Boston in a low chance, low scoring game, but Morgan Geekie scored the game winning goal with 1:45 left just as a penalty was expiring and just after Mattias Samuelsson pushed Justin Brazeau into his goaltender.

Zucker is an influential voice in the locker room and wants to make Buffalo better despite knowing he could be traded at the deadline.

The club is last in the Eastern Conference with an 18-26-5 record and, barring an unprecedented run, the playoff drought that’s chased off season-ticket holders will reach 14 years.

The Buffalo Sabres poor performance on their recent Western road swing has served to solidify their position at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and as a likely seller before the March 7 trade deadline.

The Rangers and Blue Jackets have three games remaining, the next one is in Columbus on Feb. 8 — it’s the last game for each team before the 4 Nations break. Columbus comes to the Garden again on March 9 and hosts New York six nights later.

The struggling Pittsburgh Penguins look to regain their scoring touch when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Monday. The Penguins are 3-7-3 in their last 13 games, and are ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the Christmas break as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Riding a 9-3-1 stretch, the Penguins were briefly holding down a spo

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported that the Buffalo Sabres have emerged as trade contenders to acquire Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson.