Thompson and JJ Peterka had hat tricks against the Bruins on Tuesday night — a good sign for Lindy Ruff's lineup tweaks.

"It feels like we need a miracle for either of Terry Pegula's core teams to ever win a championship. There's not many people in this town who can vouch that this is possible, but I can," writes Harrington.

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.

In this edition of On Sports, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is making the rounds at the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., a popular destination for NFL coaches to get a firsthand look at upcoming draft talent.

The Bruins took a short-lived 1-0 lead on Mason Lohrei’s goal in the first period, but the Sabres rattled off the next four goals to ice it.

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 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.

Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each recorded a hat trick and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Ruff: He was the guy that gave our guys a lot of comfort. He knew that his job was to make sure that these guys could play at a high level and let nobody take advantage. And if you look around the league, I don’t know if there were too many that were better at doing what he did.

Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka had hat tricks, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves as Buffalo rolled to a 7-2 win over Boston.