Bruins Pop Four Goals in First, Fend Off Chippy Senators 4-1

Just one night after the Bruins’ offense waited until the third period to wake up, the Black and Gold exploded with four goals in the first period Tuesday night in Ottawa en route to a 4-1 win over the Senators.

Blake Wheeler scored twice and David Krejci and Mark Recchi added tallies on the power play as Boston took a lead that goalie Tim Thomas would never relinquish.

The B’s are now 4-0 against Ottawa this season, outscoring them 14-7 in the process. Ottawa remains hot on the Bruins’ heels, however, as they trail the B's by just three points for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference.

The game featured 68 penalty minutes including 35 from Ottawa and 33 from Boston. Both Chris Neil and Johnny Boychuk received 10 minute misconducts while Matt Carkner and Shawn Thornton threw down in the second period.

Bruins 4, Senators 1
Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario
Jan. 5, 2010

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Headliner: Blake Wheeler had a pair of goals as part of Boston’s four-goal explosion in the opening frame. Wheeler knocked the B’s first goal of the game in off his body on a blind feed from Andrew Ference less than two minutes into the game to get the party started. Wheels then deflected in a soft David Krejci shot from the point roughly 10 minutes later for his 10th of the season.

Grinder: David Krejci and Mark Recchi each potted a goal and an assist while netminder Tim Thomas kicked aside 27-of-28 shots en route to this 12th win of the season and fifth in his last six starts.

Ottawa backup keeper Pascal Leclaire kicked aside all 19 shots he faced in mop-up duty to keep things close for the host Senators.

Weak Link: Brian Elliot stopped just 12 of 16 shots before getting yanked from the contest with more than six minutes to go in the first period.

Key Moment: Recchi popped a power-play tally from the doorstep with six minutes to go in the opening frame to give Boston the early 4-0 lead and deflate the Sens attack. Recchi's ninth of the season ended Elliot's night and proved to be too much for the hosts as they could only get one goal back in the final two-plus periods. It was the Bruins' second power-play goal of the night, breaking a streak of nine road games in which the B's failed to score a power play goal.

What’s Next: The Bruins return to Boston to take on the Blackhawks on Thursday night in the North End.

Chicago entered the week tied with the Sharks for the most points in the Western Conference with 61 and have won eight of their last 10 games.