Final, Bruins 2-1: Somehow, someway, the Bruins just beat the Senators 2-1.
It was far from pretty, and it wasn’t the easiest win of the season, but the B’s will certainly take it right now.
Third period, 18:56, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins do the little things right late in the third period, and they have the lead.
Dennis Seidenberg just gave the Bruins the lead with a blast of a one-timer from the right point to give them a 2-1 lead.
Third period, 18:03, 1-1: The Bruins gave up the puck in the neutral zone, and that allows Guillaume Latendresse to carry it in to the offensive zone, but his backhanded attempt was thwarted by a glove save from Anton Khudobin.
Third period, 15:22, 1-1: The Bruins were given a great chance to go ahead for the first time in this game, but the power play comes up short again.
The B’s once again failed to get a shot on goal during the man-advantage, and the Senators actually almost worked a scoring chance after the power play ended, but the B’s tightened up and made sure nothing came of it.
Shawn Thornton, who is getting some good run in the third, was able to break free and take the puck into the Ottawa end before putting a shot on goal right into Robin Lehner’s bread basket. However, the goalie freezes it, and the B’s get the offensive zone faceoff.
Third period, 13:03, 1-1: Things are still pretty chippy, but for the Bruins, cooler heads prevail.
David Krejci was caught in the middle of a scrum after the whistle, and Kaspars Daugavins hit Krejci with a couple of jabs of the stick. That, of course, brings everyone else into the crease, but it’s Daugavins who gets the only penalty out of it.
That means the Bruins get the power play.
Third period, 10:48, 1-1: After the slow start to the period, things started to open up a little bit with a handful of chances at each end. The Sens are outshooting the B’s 5-4 in the third, and Anton Khudobin continues to look solid between the pipes.
The Bruins’ fourth line, which played a big part in the team’s shootout win the same building last week, is having another nice game. They’re physically involved as evidenced by Shawn Thornton’s third period, and they’re also getting to the net and creating some chances.
Third period, 10:51, 1-1: Things are starting to get pretty chippy here in the third period.
Chris Neil and Milan Lucic started to mix it up some and Lucic smartly declined the fight.
A couple of shifts later it was Shawn Thornton and Guillaume Latendresse who got tangled up behind the play. It looked like Thornton was not happy about something, and he dropped his gloves. Latendresse wasn’t as eager to fight, but both get matching roughing penalties.
Third period, 6:28, 1-1: As you might have expected, this third period between two teams jockeying for playoff positioning has been air-tight.
The two teams have combined for just two shots on goal in the first six and a half minutes, and there haven’t been any real noteworthy scoring chances.
If one of these teams does score before regulation ends (a big if at this point), it’s likely going to come on a bad bounce. It doesn’t look like either team is going to yield much in terms of allowing offensive chances in their own end.
Nathan Horton is without a shot so far, and he has just one goal in his last 11 games. It would be nice to see him get something late in this one.
Third period, 0:01, 1-1: Next goal probably wins as the Bruins and Senators open the third period in Ottawa.
Second period reaction: First, the negatives.
The Bruins were flat-out sloppy through much of the second period. They were careless with their breakout passes and into the neutral zone, and they were running around a lot on offense. To sum it up a little better, it was an offensive mess. Things hit a low point when the first line came into the Ottawa zone on a 3-on-1 with a head of steam, but Milan Lucic made a poor pass to Nathan Horton that was too far in front of the play, and the offensive chance went to hell. Defensively, they were a little bit better, but they did give up the goal to Kaspars Daugavins that in a game with such a good defensive team like the Senators, looked like it might have been all the Sens might need.
Onto the positives. The game is tied, so that’s good considering the fact that the B’s probably don’t have much business being in this game. However, they did a nice job of getting on the board late in the period, with a play that was started by Johnny Boychuk. The defenseman did a good job of slowing an Ottawa rush allowing Gregory Campbell to gain the puck. He slipped it to Boychuk and the D-man found Paille breaking into the zone where he beat Robin Lehner with a wrist shot that the goalie probably should have had.
Anton Khudobin has done a nice job all night, and he’s probably the biggest reason this game is tied. He made a flurry of saves at the end of the first, and he was just as good in the second save for the goal that he probably should have had. But he rebounded nicely and made some big saves, including another big stop late in the period when he denied Jakob Silfverberg before the horn.
End second period, , 1-1: Well, then. The second period comes to an end, and the B’s and Sens are somehow tied 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Second period, 17:38, 1-1: The second period has been a total mess for the Bruins — until now.
The Boston fourth line comes through yet again, as it’s Daniel Paille who gets the B’s on the board. Paille’s wrist shot beats Robin Lehner, as the Ottawa goalie got a glove on it, but he let in the soft goal as the puck somehow got by him to tie it up.
Second period, 13:57, Senators 1-0: The Bruins just had a power play. Absolutely nothing happened. That’s par for the course with what the Bruins have done in this one thus far.
Second period, 11:02, Senators 1-0: The Bruins are going on the power play, for better or worse.
Zdeno Chara was taken down in front of the Ottawa net, and the B’s go to work against the second-best penalty kill in the game.
Second period, 10:40, Senators 1-0: This is starting to get very ugly and quickly for the Bruins.
They had a glorious scoring chance a few minutes ago when the entire first line entered the zone in a 3-on-1 rush, but Milan Lucic made a poor pass to Nathan Horton to ruin the chance.
Second period, 4:55, Senators 1-0: The Senators strike first, and it’s Kaspars Daugavins who does the deed for Ottawa.
The forward, who got a bunch of attention for his zany shootout attempt against the B’s last week, gets the game’s first goal with a snap shot from the left wing. Mika Zibanejad passed it to Daugavins to begin the play into the Boston zone, and Zibanejac went right to the net to help create traffic in front.
Second period, 2:42, 0-0: The Bruins’ fourth line just did a good job of trying to get something going.
Daniel Paille started things by intercepting a pass and then winning a puck battle to gain possession in the offensive end. That eventually led to arguably the best chance of the night for Boston when Gregory Campbell tipped a puck in the high slot, but Robin Lehner was able to turn it away.
Second period, 0:01, 0-0: The second period is under way where the Bruins are looking to get something — anything — going in Ottawa.
First period reaction: The Bruins may be tied, but that was far from their best period of hockey. The B’s still look sluggish, which is kind of inexplicable given the way that they have played on this road trip. They’re still not doing the little things and not sacrificing themselves to make the play.
However, that assessment doesn’t apply to everyone. Both Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron were seen diving to make plays to keep the puck out of danger in the first. The rest of the club needs to take cues from those two leaders and kick it into gear a little more.
Another one of the bright spots for the B’s was the play of Anton Khudobin. The backup goalie is playing like a No. 1 right now, stopping all 10 shots he faced in the first. He was at his best in the final seconds of the period when he made two or three big saves to keep the game scoreless.
End first period, 0-0: The two teams go to the room tied 0-0, but the Senators certainly could be leading right now, had it not been for Anton Khudobin. The goaltender made a few of big-time saves in the final seconds of the first period on Kyle Turris and Jakob Silfverberg in a scramble before the horn.
It would be pretty disheartening to go into the dressing room after giving up a late goal there, but the Bruins can’t feel very good after 20 minutes regardless.
First period, 15:13, 0-0: The Senators are starting to tilt the ice some, and that’s obviously bad news for the Bruins.
Ottawa has put some good pressure on over the last few minutes, but Anton Khudobin has stood tall thus far. The Bruins are still outshooting Ottawa 8-6, but they haven’t had any real sparkling scoring chances.
The first period has been a tight-checking frame, with both teams taking the body. The Bruins still look like they could use a little bit of a spark. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone drops the gloves at some point to get the team going.
First period, 10:07, 0-0: These teams are stingy as they come, so we probably won’t see much scoring. However, we’ve seen a couple of good things from the Bruins early on.
They had a good shift a few minutes ago from the David Krejci line which featured some good forechecking from Milan Lucic. It was reminiscent of the way he created chances against Washington last Saturday. They need more of that.
First period, 6:33, 0-0: David Krejci is showing no real ill effects of his leg injury in the early going. He’s already logged 2:12 of ice time so far.
No real chances for either side through the first 6:33 of the game for either side.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The Bruins and Senators are under way in Ottawa.
7:33 p.m.: The Bruins confirm that Rich Peverley is a healthy scratch.
7:23 p.m.: Well, this is odd. According to Naoko Funayama, Bruins forward Rich Peverley has been scratched.
We’ll let you know when we know more as to why that is the case. Then again, it could be just to change things up and light a fire under the club.
David Krejci is back, and that means that Ryan Spooner will take the place of Peverley.
7: 15 p.m.: It sounds like David Krejci will make his return, at least according to pregame line rushes.
The Bruins just tweeted that Krejci was on the top line for the pregame line rushes, which seems to be an indication that he will be back in the lineup for Boston.
7 p.m.: Anton Khudobin leads the Bruins out for pregame warmups, meaning he’ll be in net for the B’s.
Robin Lehner gets the start for Ottawa.
6:45 p.m.: Good evening. We’re glad you could take some time out of your basketball watching to join us for Bruins-Senators.
Let’s get to a couple of links, shall we? Here’s a column that yours truly wrote earlier about how I wish I got to see Bobby Orr play hockey.
In other business, here’s the NESNplus schedule for this evening. The Red Sox and Phillies are on, so if you’re looking to find where you can see that, you can find that information here. If that’s your choice, be sure to follow Bruins-Sens right here.
3 p.m.: The Bruins are struggling to score goals right now, and that’s not good news heading into a matchup with the Senators. Ottawa is second to only the Nashville Predators in goals allowed at home this season, with Nashville having played two fewer home games this year. The Sens have only allowed 20 goals in 14 games at Scotiabank Place.
Then again, it’s not like the Senators are giving up many goals regardless of where they play. Only the Bruins have allowed fewer goals this season, but Boston has also played two fewer games than the Senators.
So that would explain why only seven goals have been scored in the two games they have played this season.
12:15 p.m.: There were a lot of tidbits of information to take out of the morning skate in Ottawa, so let’s get right to those.
First of all, Bruins center David Krejci was on the ice for morning skate. According to reports out of Ottawa, the playmaking center looked good skating. However, he was splitting time with Ryan Spooner who was in the lineup in place of the injured Krejci on Tuesday night in Winnipeg. According to Claude Julien, Krejci is feeling better, but he will be a gametime decision depending on how he feels after pregame warmups.
Secondly, there was obviously no Adam McQuaid on the ice as he’s likely out 3-4 weeks with that shoulder injury. As expected, it looks like veteran defenseman Aaron Johnson will take his place for now.
It’s unclear who will be in goal for Boston against the Sens. Both Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin exited the ice at the same time, so we probably won’t know the starting goaltender until pregame.
8 a.m. ET: When you look at the way things were going just about a month ago, you’d probably be surprised to find out that Thursday’s Bruins-Senators game in Ottawa would mean much of anything.
Improbably, despite Boston’s hot start and the Sens’ mounting injury concerns, Thursday night’s tussle between Northeast Division rivals is actually a pretty big game for both teams. It’s also the second meeting in 10 days between the two teams with the Bruins winning last week in a shootout at Ottawa.
Just three points separate the two teams entering the game, and while the Senators continue to defy the odds with injury after injury, the Bruins are starting to scuffle.
Boston has lost two in a row, and they are just 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Once again, third-period issues continue to haunt the club, and that’s what did them in again Tuesday night in Winnipeg. Despite leading 1-0 heading into the third, the Bruins saw the Jets score three unanswered to steal the win.
The Bruins are also starting to deal with injuries of their own. The status of both David Krejci is unknown heading into this matchup. Krejci left Sunday’s game with the Penguins with a leg injury, and he did not play Tuesday in Winnipeg. We know that Adam McQuaid will not play, as he has a shoulder strain that may keep him out 3-4 weeks. That may mean the Bruins have to make a roster move at some point whether it’s a trade, call-up, etc., but it’s probably safe to assume that Aaron Johnson will slide into the lineup for the time being.
We’ll have updates on both throughout the day as we learn more leading up to puck drop at 7:30 in Ottawa. Be sure to follow along throughout the day.
