2. Ostlund’s debut

Buffalo’s 21-year-old forward Noah Ostlund made his NHL debut versus the Lightning, centering a line with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty and skating 8:37 in the win.

“I thought he played well,” Ruff said. “I would have liked to [have gotten him] out there a little bit more. We had him on that second power-play unit, got a little tight down the stretch. They were playing three lines, so we just started playing three lines.”

Ostlund took just two shifts totaling 1:31 in the third period. Overall, however, the former first-round pick flashed the 200-foot game that’s made him a star in Rochester this season.

“He’s gonna play some hockey for us, so it was a great start,” Ruff continued. “Got a win in his first NHL game. I thought he had plays inside the D-zone that you really like. He read the plays well, didn’t get himself in any trouble.”

3. Scouting the Bruins

The Bruins are also finishing a weekend back-to-back, having beaten Carolina 5-1 on Saturday to snap a 10-game winless streak. Still, the night’s other results officially eliminated them from playoff contention.

A trade deadline sell-off has left the Bruins starving for offense, as they averaged just 1.8 goals and 20.1 shots per game during that 10-game skid; Saturday’s five goals were their most in a game since Feb. 1.

Forward David Pastrnak scored a hat trick Saturday and, like Thompson, reached the 40-goal mark. His 94 points this season are nearly double the next-most productive Bruin, Morgan Geekie, who’s up to 50 (28+22) after a five-point performance.

Buffalo has gone 2-1-0 so far versus Boston this season, including a 7-2 win Jan. 28 – which saw both JJ Peterka and Thompson record hat tricks on home ice – and, more recently, a 3-2 overtime win March 17 at TD Garden.

Defenseman Henri Jokiharju, whom Buffalo traded at the deadline, will be making his first appearance at KeyBank Center as a visitor. The pending unrestricted free agent has tallied one assist while averaging 21:28 of ice time with his new team.