Brad Marchand scored his first career goal and Tim Thomas improved to 7-0-0 on the season as the Bruins defeated the Sabres, 5-2, in Buffalo on Wednesday night. The B’s are now 5-0-0 on the road to open the season for the first time in franchise history.

The Bruins also got goals from Patrice Bergeron, Blake Wheeler, and Michael Ryder, chasing Sabres starting goaltender Jhonas Enroth from the game after a period. Patrick Lalime played the second and third periods, allowing just Ryder’s goal, as reigning Vezina winner Ryan Miller missed the game was a lower-body injury. Milan Lucic added an empty-net goal with 2:07 remaining in the third period and is now tied with Nathan Horton for the team lead with five goals.

Thomas allowed a pair of goals on 35 shots. It was the first time this season that he has allowed multiple goals in a game.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

- Good to see Marchand pick up his first NHL goal. It took him a little longer than the likes of Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron, who both took only two games (Caron’s was in the third game of the season, but his second game), but Marchand now has a goal to his name 29 games into his career. The goal came on a breakaway, as Marchand hopped onto the ice and ran with it.

- The penalty kill didn’t stop at Marchand’s goal. With Dennis Seidenberg in the box later in the first period, Marchand helped set up a shorthanded bid that led to Patrice Bergeron’s second goal of the season and the B’s second shorthanded goal.

- Tim Thomas gets attention in both sections here. He is now the first Bruins goalie to start a season 7-0-0. After Wednesday’s victory, Thomas has posted three shutouts, allowed one goal in three games, and has had one two-goal game.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

- Nathan Horton is… under “What went wrong?!”

Yes. He picked up an assist on Lucic’s empty-netter, but he wasn’t abe to join the B’s scoring party early on. The winger took too much time with the puck on golden opportunities in both the first and third periods, with David Krejci seemingly putting him in position to put one into a net vacated by an out-of-position Patrick Lalime.

Horton failed to get a shot on goal in the game and now has had either one or zero shots in on goal in four of his nine games this season. He’s had two or less in six games. Now, the plus side of this is that when Horton does set to shoot, the press box readies themselves to watch the replay of a goal seconds later. Five goals on 17 shots is incredible. Seventeen shots through nine games from the best scorer on the team isn’t quite as impressive.

- While the B’s penalty kill did have more goals than any line or unit in the game on Wednesday, they also did allow Drew Stafford’s second period tally. The good that comes with the bad: it was just the third goal the penalty kill has allowed all season.

- Much like Horton getting guff is a case of finding negatives within a positive, Tim Thomas did have his worst game of the season, and it was quite apparent given that he, for the first time all season allowed goals. Stafford’s power-play tally in the second, as well as an Andrej Sekera unassisted goal in the third help make the Sabres the first team all season to score more than one goal against Thomas, who improved to 7-0-0 on Wednesday, all season.

What’s more surprising: That Tim Thomas allowed a goal or that it wasn’t the Bruins scoring on the Sabres’ power play? Thomas did the unthinkable in the second period by allowing a puck past him, but the Bruins lead, 4-1, after two nonetheless.

Drew Stafford picked up his fourth goal of the season at 16:39 with Blake Wheeler in the bin for slashing, but a Michael Ryder tally early on in the period in which he did all the work meant that the Bruins once again hold a three-goal lead at period’s end.

Tyler Seguin achieved another career first when he took a minor penalty for hooking Andrej Sekera. All in all 44 penalty minutes were doled out between the two teams in the rather chippy period.

Patrick Lalime, who replaced Jhonas Enroth at the beginning of the period, made seven saves on eight shots. Thomas has 21 saves on 22 shots.

A pair of shorthanded goals, an even-strength goal from Blake Wheeler and another shutout period from Tim Tomas has the Bruins leading the struggling Sabres, 3-0 after one period in Buffalo.

Brad Marchand got the party started with Michael Ryder in the box, hopping onto the ice on the penalty and racing to Jhonas Enroth’s net for a breakaway tally at 3:32, the first goal of his NHL career.

Later in the period, Marchand and Gregory Campbell piled on more shorthanded pressure with Dennis Seidenberg in the bin for holding, and the play resulted in Patrice Bergeron’s second goal of the season. Wheeler later added an even strength tally, his first of the season, thanks to a nice pass from behind the net from new linemate Michael Ryder.

Tim Thomas saved all nine shots the Sabres had on him.

The Bruins and Sabres aren’t far from the puck dropping on their first contest since the B’s eliminated Buffalo in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Tim Thomas is in net for the B’s, and with Ryan Miller battling a lower-body injury, Jhonas Entroth will make his second career start (he allowed four goals to the Bruins in a Sabres loss last November).

The Sabres are off to a wretched start, sitting in last place of the Northeast divison with just eight points in 12 games. The B’s have 12 points in eight games, thanks to wins in all six of Thomas’ starts this season. The lines appear to be the same as they have been in practice this week. Here are the lines according to the Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa:

Lucic – Krejci – Horton
Caron – Bergeron- Recchi
Wheeler -Seguin- Ryder
Marchand – Campbell- Thornton

Chara – Ference
Hunwick – Seidenberg
Stuart – McQuaid

Thomas
Rask

For the second straight year, the Bruins will be playing outdoors… kind of.

Howard Baldwin, chairman of Whalers Sports & Entertainment announced on Wednesday that the Feb. 11 game between the Connecticut Whale (which will come into existence on Nov. 27 after the rebranding of the Hartford Wolf Pack) and the Providence Bruins will be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

The game, which will be a part of the nine-day long Whalers Hockey Fest, will be the second outdoor game in the history of the AHL. The Binghamton Senators and Syracuse Crunch played this past February at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Tickets for the Connecticut/Providence outdoor game can be purchased at www.ctwhale.com.

According to multiple reports out of Buffalo, Sabres goaltender and reigning Vezina winner Ryan Miller will not play when the Bruins take on the Sabres in Buffalo on Wednesday night due to a lower body injury. Patrick Lalime was reportedly first off the ice for the Sabres at their morning skate Wednesday.

UPDATE: 6:40: Jhonas Enroth, recently called up by the Sabres, is set to start for the Sabres after leading the team onto the ice on Wednesday night. Ironically, the 22-year-old’s only NHL start prior to Wednesday came last November against the Bruins. He allowed four goals on 37 shots in a Bruins victory.

A lower body injury could cause Ryan Miller to miss Wednesday's game against the Bruins (AP Photo)

According to the Associated Press, Sabres goaltender and reigning Vezina winner Ryan Miller may not play in Wednesday’s game against the Bruins due to an lower-body injury.

Miller did not practice on Monday, but did see limited ice time in Tuesday’s skate. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said that the decision on whether Miller, whom he said is not dealing with a groin injury, will be healthy enough to go against the B’s will come Wednesday morning.

“I thought he looked OK,” Ruff said on Tuesday. “I thought he was also taking it a little bit easy, just to give it a try. I think he’s just trying to find out exactly where he is at.”

Miller hopes to play but doesn’t want the struggling Sabres, off to a 3-7-2 start, to have a less-than-capable guy in net against the Bruins, winners of six of their last seven games.

“I felt better than I anticipated,” Miller said. “… I want to play, but I want to be sure that I’m giving the guys the best chance.”

Miller began feeling pain during Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Thrashers. If he is unable to go, Patrick Lalime, who allowed four goals against the Stars on Saturday, will man the pipes for Buffalo.