The most alarming part of the Bruins’ 7-4 loss to the Sabres on Jan. 31 wasn’t the fact that nobody tried to slay the mighty John Scott, it was the fact that the defense was uncharacteristically treacherous in a game the B's let get away from them at the hands of Buffalo’s top line. 

So while much of the focus in the days leading up to Sunday’s rematch may have been on who might be able to go after Scott, a guy like Zdeno Chara (a common name thrown around in that discussion) rightfully decided to right his own wrong from that loss: a rare minus-3 rating. 

That top line for the Sabres -- Cody Hodgson between Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville -- was kept quiet in Sunday's 3-1 Bruins win in Buffalo. Vanek had a hat trick and a pair of assists on Jan. 31, but he was held to just one shot on goal Sunday night with a minus-1 rating. Hodgson and Pominville also were each a minus-1, and Hodgson had one shot on goal while Pominville had none. Chara finished plus-1 on the night. 

As for the whole Scott thing, the Bruins paid little attention to the giant enforcer, who played just 5:15 (which actually is more than usual). He and Shawn Thornton were on the ice together on an early shift and paid little attention to one another, while Thornton held Scott back to amicably break up a scrum in front of the Bruins’ net later in the first period. Thornton had said that he didn’t have any hard feelings toward Scott after the 6-foot-8, 270-pounder crushed him (fairly) in a fight in the teams’ last meeting and left him concussed. Apparently he meant it, and the Bruins clearly felt that the only thing they had to avenge this time around was their only regulation loss of the season. 

The game wasn’t without its fisticuffs. This figures to be a rather heated five-game season series, so Gregory Campbell made sure Patrick Kaleta was aware that the B’s didn’t appreciate him finishing his check on Dennis Seidenberg just a tad late. Campbell challenged and promptly lost to Kaleta, but you have to get the sense that sports radio won’t be filled with callers saying the Bruins need to go after Kaleta when the teams meet again Friday in Buffalo. Instead, they'll be happy with the two points. 

Two games are in the books between the B’s and Sabres and regardless of how many fights there are, this season series is going to be entertaining. Ryan Miller stood on his head to prevent Sunday’s game from being lopsided in the Bruins’ favor, and at the very least, the Sabres’ offseason of toughening up has made them a better physical match against the B’s. If the Bruins continue to hold their own physically while not straying from what makes them strong defensively (and even scoring a power-play goal, which they got from Patrice Bergeron for the game-winner), they’ll be in good shape against not only the Sabres, but any other opponent. At 8-1-1 (their best start through 10 games in team history), it’s working so far. 

HORTON FITTING IN WITH BERGERON LINE

The thought here was Claude Julien was a little too quick to stick with the switch he made in the third period of the Canadiens game when he had Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin switch spots on the top two lines. While the move got Seguin going offensively (he scored his first non-empty-net goal on his first shift with David Krejci and Milan Lucic against the Habs), the B’s took a risk by breaking up what was a very strong line of Krejci between Lucic and Horton. 

By the looks of things on Sunday, Horton is going to do well this season regardless of who his linemates are. He’s been one of the Bruins’ most consistent forwards, and consistency isn’t something for which Horton’s been known over the course of his career. 

Remember, this is a guy who’s in a contract year and is trying to prove that he can produce and stay healthy. Thus far, any concerns of concussions haven’t prevented him from playing his style of power forward. He’s lethal with his shot from the high slot, and he’s a bear to deal with in front of the net. He got enough of Andrej Sekera and Ryan Miller’s attention in front of the net on Marchand’s second-period goal, so his presence on that line gives the B's a bit of grit they were lacking with Seguin. 

Then there’s Marchand, who only ended up sitting out one game (perhaps helped by Saturday’s game being postponed) due to last week’s shoulder injury suffered against the Maple Leafs. In jumping back into the lineup on a revamped line, Marchand returned to his scoring pace and continued to yap like he has in seasons past.

After focusing on getting his legs back early in the season, Marchand has added the rest of his, er, skills back into his game. He mocked the Devils bench in response to some guff from David Clarkson after scoring his first career shootout goal on Jan. 29, and on Sunday he gave Steve Ott a shove from behind at around the neck area after the whistle. That got Ott’s attention, as the veteran tough guy shoved Marchand into the corner as the two exchanged facewashes. 

Those sorts of things come with the package when Brad Marchand is on your team, but they’re also why some act so surprised by his actual skill level. Marchand has shown with six goals through nine games that he’s more offensively gifted than he may receive credit for, and as a result he’s actually on pace to score a career-high 31 goals. That probably won’t happen, but consider that his current career high through two full seasons is 28 goals, and he did that in an 82-game season (playing in 76 games).

Time will tell whether the Krejci line will hold up defensively, as taking Seguin away from Bergeron may expose him a bit. His two-way game’s been a work in progress, but it has improved. Thus far the line is a plus-3, though there are asterisks all over that. One of the goals was an empty-netter for Lucic, while Seguin and Lucic were on the ice after an unsuccessful power play when Tyler Ennis scored to tie the game in the second period. 

For now, the tweaked top six has seen positives on both lines over the course of four periods, but most importantly, a pair of wins.