Bruins-Senators Preview: Key Playoff-Race Points At Stake In Ottawa

The Ottawa Senators are closing in on the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card playoff spot. The Boston Bruins can do something to halt that progress Thursday night.

Ottawa is just four points behind Boston with a game in hand, as the teams meet at Canadian Tire Centre. A Bruins victory would give them a six-point cushion over the Senators with just 11 games remaining. Entering Thursday, Boston has a 70.6 percent chance of reaching the postseason, while Ottawa is at 37.6 percent, per Sports Club Stats.

“Well, we know what’s at stake,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said after Tuesday night’s shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. “So it’s up to us to bounce back here and that the next game’s going to be as important as it’s ever been so far this year. And we know that, so we’ve got to pick up our socks here and not feel sorry for ourselves because we feel we got shortchanged here (Tuesday) and understand what’s at stake.”

Here’s a preview of Bruins-Senators:

TV, Radio Information: NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub

Season Series: Boston 2-0-2

Record: Boston (36-23-11, fourth in Atlantic), Ottawa (34-24-11, fifth in Atlantic)

Bruins Player To Watch: Carl Soderberg is in a 24-game goal-less drought, but he was among Boston’s best players against the Sabres on Tuesday. He was on the ice for 36 scoring chances, the second-most of any NHL forward in a single game this season (Claude Giroux, 38). Soderberg also assisted on Loui Eriksson’s first-period goal and finished with four shots.

Soderberg has tallied three assists and five shots in four games against the Senators this season.

Senators Player To Watch: Andrew Hammond, aka “The Hamburglar,” is 11-0-1 with a .956 save percentage since mid-February and hasn’t allowed more than two goals in each of his 12 starts. The Bruins have scored just five goals (including an empty-net tally) in their last four games, but they averaged nearly three goals in the previous four matchups with the Senators this season.

Key Stat For Bruins: Boston has scored first in 12 of the last 13 games, with a record of 8-3-2 in that span. The Bruins are 25-7-5 on the season when opening the scoring in a game.

Key Stat For Senators: Ottawa is 1 for 12 (0 for 3 on home ice) on the power play against Boston this season. The Senators also rank 26th in home power-play success (16.2 percent).