The Senators humiliated the Bruins 5-1 on Monday and haven’t stopped since, with wins over the powerful Blackhawks and then the Blues. They bring a five-game win streak into Saturday’s matinee, while the Bruins have lost three straight and six of their last seven. They are 0-2-0 on this three-game home-stand and 1-5-1 in their last seven home games.
Needless to say, this is a must-win.
WHEN AND WHERE
Saturday Jan. 23, 1 p.m. (NESN)
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
RECORDS
Bruins (23-18-8, 54 points, third place in Northeast Division, seventh place in Eastern Conference)
Senators (27-21-4, second place in Northeast Division, fifth in Eastern Conference)
HEAD TO HEAD
This is the sixth and final meeting of the season between the Bruins and the Senators. Until last Monday’s 5-1 loss to Ottawa, Boston had dominated the season series, winning the first four games.
Boston leads the lifetime series 55-29-8-7.
SKINNY
Although the Bruins are 12-3-1 when leading after two periods of play, they have lost the last three times they have been in such a position. Such was the case during Thursday's loss to the Blue Jackets.
"It just goes to show that every year’s different and we shouldn’t count on things being automatic," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "You’ve got to make things happen. There’s not doubt. You’ve heard me say that a million times. This is a game where confidence plays a big role. We were a confident team after two periods, we were playing well, we had lots of chances, and, as I mentioned [Thursday] night, it could have easily been more than a 2-1 hockey game.
“You don’t capitalize on some of those excellent chances, they tie it up, and then all of a sudden you tighten up," Julien continued. "And why do you tighten up? It’s because you don’t have the confidence you would if you had been having success."
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Bruins
Forwards
Milan Lucic–David Krejci–Blake Wheeler
Daniel Paille–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Miroslav Satan–Trent Whitfield–Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton–Vladimir Sobotka–Drew Larman
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Derek Morris
Mark Stuart–Dennis Wideman
Matt Hunwick–Johnny Boychuk
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Senators
Forwards
Milan Michalek–Jason Spezza–Daniel Alfredsson
Ryan Shannon–Mike Fisher–Alex Kovalev
Nick Foligno–Peter Regin–Chris Neil
Jarkko Ruutu–Chris Kelly–Jonathan Cheechoo
Defensemen
Chris Phillips–Anton Volchenkov
Filip Kuba–Erik Karlsson
Chris Campoli–Matt Carkner
Goaltenders
Brian Elliott
Mike Brodeur
GOALTENDER MATCHUP
Bruins
Tim Thomas is 13-12-5 with a 2.45 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Thomas has four shutouts. He was pulled in the second period of Monday's loss after allowing three goals on nine shots.
Tuukka Rask is 10-6-2 with a 2.14 GAA and a .926 save percentage after taking the loss on Thursday. Rask stopped 22 of 25 shots. He is third in the NHL in GAA and fifth in save percentage. Rask has two shutouts and has lost his last three starts.
Senators
Brian Elliot stopped 22 of 23 shots in Ottawa's 5-1 win over the Bruins on Monday and has won three straight games. He is 13-11-3 with a 2.73 GAA and a .900 save percentage. Elliot has two shutouts.
Mike Brodeur is 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .966 save percentage. The rookie netminder has one shutout. Brodeur has stopped 84 of the 87 shots he has faced in the NHL
STAT SHEET
Bruins
On Thursday, Patrice Bergeron scored his first goal since returning from a broken thumb on Monday. His last goal was on Dec. 30. He leads the team in points (12 goals, 20 assists) with 31.
Zdeno Chara assisted on Bergeron’s goal on Thursday and leads the team with 24 assists. Chara also leads the defense in assists and points with 28.
On Thursday, Milan Lucic got into his first fight since Oct. 3 when he dropped the gloves with Jared Boll.
Daniel Paille had an assist on Thursday and now has three points in his last four games. Paille now has eight assists and 14 points this season.
Michael Ryder scored a goal on Thursday, giving him two goals in his last three games. Ryder has 12 goals and 20 points this season.
Miroslav Satan had an assist on Thursday and has two points in his last three games. Satan has two goals and two assists in eight games with the Bruins.
The Bruins killed off three of four Columbus power plays on Thursday and have killed off 26 of the last 29 power plays they have faced. They’ve allowed only 22 goals on 178 power plays faced and are second in the NHL with an 87.6 percent success rate.
The Bruins' power play was 0-for-2 Thursday night and is 0-for-11 over the last six games. It is 28-for-162 with a 17.3 percent success rate this season.
Senators
Captain Daniel Alfredsson had a natural hat trick against the Bruins on Monday. The hat trick was the first in franchise history against Boston. Since returning from a shoulder injury Jan. 16 at Montreal, Alfredsson has eight points in four games. He is tied for the team lead with 39.
Mike Fisher matched a career high for assists and points in one game with three assists against the Bruins on Monday. Fisher has seven points in his last five games and is tied for the team lead with 39.
Alex Kovalev has three helpers in his last two games and six points in his last five games. Kovalev is second on the team with 35 points.
Rookie Peter Regin had three power-play points in Thursday’s win over St. Louis. That matched a Senators rookie record. Regin has 19 points this season.
Milan Michalek returned from a concussion on Thursday and scored a goal in his first game since Jan. 7. Michalek is tied for the team lead in goals with 17 and has 23 points.
Ottawa’s three power-play goals against the Blues on Thursday marked the team’s highest output with the man advantage in a game this season. The Senators are 28-for-182 and still have the league's worst power play with a 15.4 percent success rate.
The Senators have not allowed a power play goal since Jan. 12 at Atlanta and have successfully overcome 19 consecutive shorthanded situations. The Senators penalty kill has allowed 34 power-play goals on 208 attempts with an 83.6 percent success rate.
BLACK AND BLUE
Bruins
Marc Savard practiced on Friday and is aiming to return to the lineup Jan. 29 at Buffalo. He has been out of the lineup since Jan. 7 with a partially torn MCL.
Andrew Ference is out for at least four more weeks with an injured groin.
Steve Begin will miss his third consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.
Byron Bitz will miss his third consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.
Marco Sturm will miss his fourth consecutive game with a leg injury.
Senators
Goaltender Pascal Leclaire (concussion) missed his fifth game on Thursday and remains out indefinitely.
Jesse Winchester missed his seventh game on Thursday with a right knee injury. He is expected to be out until mid-February.
THIS DAY IN BRUINS HISTORY
On Jan. 23, 1977, Gerry Cheevers shuts out Atlanta 3-0.
OVERHEARD
"You guys bring that stuff up. I don’t bring that stuff up to these guys because, as I just mentioned, why do you want to put extra pressure? They can see the standings, they know what’s going on. Do you have to shove it down their throats? Or just kind of let them sort those kinds of things out? They know where we are. We know where we are. It’s just a matter of going out there and playing a game.”
–Julien, on the Bruins' place in the standings
PRESS BOX
Bruins
Dennis Wideman's teammates have his back through his struggles.
Marc Savard practiced with the Bruins for the first time since injuring his knee Jan. 7.
Tim Thomas believes Team USA can do some damage in Vancouver next month.
Senators
Here’s the game story from the Sens’ win over St. Louis on Thursday.
Jason Spezza is set to return on Saturday.
The Senators are a healthy and confident bunch.
NHL
Former NHLer Jeremy Roenick has joined the NBC hockey crew.
Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau is recovering from a stroke.
Let the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes begin.
OUTLOOK
If payback isn’t on the Bruins' minds on Saturday, then maybe they should just mail in the season. Despite understandably being tired and banged up in Monday’s embarrassing 5-1 loss, the Bruins must be bitter over a game like that — and that alone must have them fired up for this game. The fact that Boston is trailing Ottawa in the standings is even more motivation.
That being said, as the Bruins proved Thursday, if they can’t maintain that motivation for three periods, all previous efforts are meaningless. The key on Saturday will be seeing if the Bruins can go all-out, faceoff to final buzzer, and convert that into a victory.
