If we are to believe the internet, namely the rumblings out of CBC, we just found out that the Montreal Canadiens' first game will be played on Sat., Jan. 19, against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While the news comes as a blow to Boston fans longing for 2013 to begin with the greatest rivalry in hockey, it paves the way for a somewhat obvious showdown; How about the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres?

You're in? OK, good, I knew you were. C'mon, it's an easy story for everyone involved.

The Bruins allegedly derailed the Buffalo Sabres' 2011-12 season when the 6-foot-4 Milan Lucic trucked a wandering Ryan Miller, giving the Buffalo netminder a concussion that sidelined him for almost a month, and left Buffalo reeling with a 'soft' reputation a la the Bruins in 2009-10 after their handling of the Marc Savard and Matt Cooke incident.

Sure, the Sabres trudged Paul Gaustad out there to fight Lucic and 'send a message', but the message had already been sent; The Sabres could be messed with without much resistance. Well, that's until they take the ice in a week. Buffalo beefed up with the additions of Steve Ott and John Scott to bolster an NHL roster already featuring capable scrapper Cody McCormick and the always-irritating Patrick Kaleta, and certainly not let the B's run around at will against 'em this year.

At least that's what we're told.

Even so, there's been no love loss between the B's and Sabres as of late, with the old Adams Division rivalry reignited by way of a 2010 playoff series that saw Tuukka Rask and the Black-and-Gold oust the heavily favored Sabres in six games.

Since then, the below has been the norm.



Saturday, Jan. 19, and with both buildings open, the next question is.. here or there?

If the Bruins do indeed open up on the road against the Sabres, expect them to come home for a Monday matinee against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day contest, set for 1 p.m. on the B's original pre-lockout schedule, would be one of what we assume would be just one of a few "untouched" contests on the new schedule.

More on all that in the morning.

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