by By RICH THOMPSON , The Boston Herald

He could find vindication against his old mates by boosting his scoring numbers when the struggling Bruins host the Northeast Division-leading Sabres tonight at TD Garden.

Paille insisted, however, he does not have a vendetta against the Sabres.

``Just another game, that's what it needs to be,'' said Paille following yesterday's extensive practice at Ristuccia Arena. ``Right now the focus is winning. I'm just going to play another team and get a win.''

Paille reached his high-water mark with Buffalo in 2007-08, when he scored 19 goals with 16 assists in 77 games. His production slipped last year to 12 goals with 15 assists in 73 games.

Paille had recorded one assist in two games for the Sabres this season when he fell from favor with coach Lindy Ruff, and Buffalo dealt him to the Bruins on Oct. 20 for a third-round pick and a conditional fourth-rounder in the 2010 draft.

``For me I thought it just came down to numbers,'' Paille said of his exit from Buffalo. ``I was very much frustrated by that. Everybody wants to play, and on that team I wasn't going to play. I wasn't part of that, but now I'm part of something here.''

Paille didn't fit with the changes Ruff planned for the season. The Bruins were just 2-3-1 against the Sabres last season, and both wins were at home in November. Last year's film won't help explain what the Sabres are up to this season.

``Their style has changed a little bit this year from last year,'' said Paille, who has notched four assists in eight games since joining the Bruins . ``They are a little more aggressive than last year and there have been some other changes, and we have to focus on them.''

Lining up

Bruins coach Claude Julien made some alterations to the lines he used in Thursday's 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Patrice Bergeron, who scored the B's lone goal, centered the gold line with Mark Recchi and Marco Sturm.

The Bergeron line would be Julien's first option on the power play, which was at the ROOT of the Bruins' 192:06 scoreless streak. They went 0-for-3 with the extra man against the Canadiens and are 6-for-55 this season.

``The power play could make the difference in the game, but it hasn't made a difference in a while,'' Sturm said. ``We have to get that power play going.''

Julien had used Recchi and Sturm with David Krejci before Krejci was diagnosed with swine flu.

Vladimir Sobotka centered the white line with Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler, while the gray line consisted of Paille, Brad Marchand and Steve Begin.

The red line featured Shawn Thornton, Byron Bitz, Trent Whitfield and Mikko Lehtonen.

Later in the day the B's sent Lehtonen back to Providence (AHL).

Better Bitz

Bitz was scratched from the Montreal game with a slight groin injury. He skated hard in practice and feels he could be ready to face the Sabres.

Julien would not commit either way, but the fourth line is tougher with Bitz working the corners and filling the slot.

``We have to be strong on the puck and play a grinding style of game,'' said Bitz. ``That's what we need to do to be successful.''

(Note: The 1st Edition of the Boston Herald ran a different photograph)

Copyright 2009 Boston Herald Inc.
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.