Final, Senators 2-0: There was no third-period magic this time, as the Bruins were unable to generate any offense and fell to Ottawa by a 2-0 count.
It was the third straight loss at the Garden for the Bruins, who have managed just two goals in those three games.
Third Period, 16:36, Senators 2-0: By the way, that fight for Recchi was his first since March 5, 2004. He took on one-time Bruin Bryan Smolinski that night when Recchi was with Philadelphia and Smolinski with Ottawa. Guess there's something about the Sens that brings out the anger in old Rex.
Recchi also passes the 1000 penalty minute mark with that scrap, joining the rare 1000 PIMs, 1000 points club with his first penalty of the season.
Third Period, 14:24, Senators 2-0: Bergeron remains snakebit as he is denied on the doorstep by Elliott on a bid from the top of the crease.
Third Period, 12:47, Senators 2-0: There will be some 4-on-4 play as Jarkko Ruutu and Michael Ryder get matching minors.
Ruutu is whistled for tripping, Ryder for unsportsmanlike conduct for embellishing the call.
Third Period, 12:14, Senators 2-0: One of the more unlikely bouts you'd ever see just took place, as 42-year-old Mark Recchi dropped the gloves with Chris Campoli.
After some stickwork in front of the net, Campoli issued the challenge by the blue line. Both guys tried to throw some bombs, but not much landed with both combatants wearing visors. Recchi did win the wrestling portion though with a nice takedown.
Third Period, 11:23, Senators 2-0: Some more nastiness on display as the Bruins' frustrations mount.
Thornton had his gloves off in a scrum with Chris Phillips after an Elliott save, but no punches were thrown. That action at least elicited some cheers, as the boo birds have been out in the third with the Bruins struggling to mount any offense.
Third Period, 5:59, Senators 2-0: Lucic has a bid from the slot off an Ottawa turnover, but his shot sails wide.
Third Period, 4:15, Senators 2-0: So much for all those third-period scoring stats, as the Senators double the lead with a Daniel Alfredsson goal.
Filip Kuba starts the play with a dump-in from the left point. It takes a strange hop off the boards to Milan Michalek, who immediately dishes a pass over to Alfredsson at the right post for an easy tap-in behind Thomas.
Third Period, 2:39, Senators 1-0: Only the post can contain the scoring machine Shawn Thornton, as the scrappy winger nearly ties it with a blast off the near post after barreling down the right wing.
Third Period, 0:00, Senators 1-0: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins looking for another comeback win, while the Senators click to a slim one-goal lead in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,565 at the Garden.
Second Intermision Notes: The Bruins have dominated opponents in the third period this year, holding a 16-7 edge in scoring. Ottawa has been outscored 19-13 in the third.
Boston has to hope both of those trends hold up in this one as they try to rally from another deficit.
The Bruins have now scored just one goal in the last five periods however, and just two goals in eight periods and a five-minute overtime in their last three home games.
Boston did outshoot Ottawa 11-9 in the second and still holds a 23-12 edge in hits and a 12-3 advantage in blocked shots. The effort is there, but the execution is still lacking a bit.
End Second Period, Senators 1-0: The second period ends just as it began, with the Bruins trailing Ottawa by a goal.
No scoring in the middle frame despite plenty of up and down action, and the Bruins will have to count on another big third-period rally to pull this one out.
Second Period, 17:56, Senators 1-0: Lots of action but few whistles in the second as the teams trade chances at both ends, but the Bruins still haven't been able to get anything past Elliott.
Second Period, 14:01, Senators 1-0: Thornton has a chance after coming out of the box with a drive down the left wing.
After the whistle, Neil tries to go after Campbell. Thornton immediately tries to get at Neil, but three Senators and a linesman cut him off.
Second Period, 13:38, Senators 1-0: The Bruins did a better job of creating offense than the Senators on that penalty, with the best chance coming on a Caron breakaway.
Second Period, 11:38, Senators 1-0: There were no penalties from the scrum, but six seconds later Thornton is called for holding on a play in which Neil went down awfully easy on a tug from Thornton as he tried to get out to cover the point.
Second Period, 11:32, Senators 1-0: More nastiness with another scrum after a whistle, this time with Adam McQuaid and Nick Foligno the main combatants.
Second Period, 9:33, Senators 1-0: The post was Thomas' best friend there, as Ryan Shannon hits iron with a backhander from the left slot.
The Sens then try to pry the rebound free, leading to a major scrum in the crease, but no penalties are called.
Second Period, 7:01, Senators 1-0: The Bruins finally put one past Elliott, but it's not going to count.
Bergeron handcuffs Elliott with a shot from the right circle that went up and over the goalie. It appeared that it would have crossed the line anyway, but Wheeler dove into the crease trying to push it over and gloved it in. The goal was immediately waved off for being batted in with a glove and video replay confirmed the call.
Second Period, 6:10, Senators 1-0: The Bruins will get a chance to tie this one on the power play, as Spezza goes off for holding.
Just before that shift, Lucic delivered a booming hit on Peter Regin in the corner.
Second Period, 4:50, Senators 1-0: Caron shows off some nifty stickwork as he intercepts one clearing pass and makes another steal on one shift. The Bruins couldn't capitalize, but that kind of impressive stickwork will lead to plenty of scoring chances.
Second Period, 1:30, Senators 1-0: Thornton was all over Neil trying to get him to go off a face-off outside the Bruins' blue line, but Neil skated away unwilling to drop the gloves.
Second Period, 0:43, Senators 1-0: The second period is under way, and the Senators are continuing to put pressure on Tim Thomas in the Bruins net early in the middle frame.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins didn't come out flat, but they also didn't exactly impose their will on the Senators in the opening period of this one.
Ottawa has a 15-10 edge in shots and the only goal so far.
The Bruins did have the physical edge, outhitting Ottawa 13-5. Zdeno Chara tried to set the tone as he has been throwing his weight around with three hits and also dropped the gloves with Chris Neil. That was in retaliation for Neil fighting Dennis Seidenberg in the last matchup, but while it was a good move for the captain to show some leadership, he would probably be better served leaving the fighting to Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic.
It's not because of the risk of injury or the need to keep Chara on the ice instead of the box. Rather, Chara is simply not that effective a fighter. His size is more intimidating in theory than practice, as he struggles to keep his balance while throwing punches. If they connect, he can do a lot of damage, but more often than not his fights end quickly as he loses his balance, as he did in this bout. If that's the only payback on Neil, he will have gotten off quite easy.
Of course, Seidenberg might have the best revenge of all, as he's simply playing an excellent game so far. The Bruins have a 6-1 edge in blocked shots and Seidenberg has four of them, to go with two hits and a shot as he played 10:32 of the first.
End First Period, Senators 1-0: The Bruins will head into yet another first intermission trailing, as the Senators have a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Milan Lucic put an exclamation mark on that frame as Sergei Gonchar came up to hit him in the neutral zone in the closing seconds, and Lucic sent him flying.
First Period, 17:29, Senators 1-0: Good battles down low in the Bruins zone. Jesse Winchester blasts Andrew Ference with a good hit.
Ference goes back after him, then Chara takes over and really works Winchester over in the far corner. Chara is definitely playing with a mean streak in this one.
First Period, 15:21, Senators 1-0: The Bruins came within inches of facing a serious deficit in this one, as Jason Spezza rings the far post with a shot from the left crcle.
The Senators were all over Boston for the rest of the shift, with multiple chances in a scramble in front.
First Period, 14:11, Senators 1-0: The Bruins find themselves trailing in the first once again. Not even Thomas' spell on Ottawa was enough to keep the B's from falling behind early.
The Bruins aren't playing especially poor, but this ongoing trend of early deficits is disturbing.
First Period, 11:03, Senators 1-0: The Bruins nearly answer as the Wheeler line creates some quality chances.
Wheeler had a chance with a backhand at the left post that was denied, then Elliott flashed the pad to stop a Recchi shot from the slot.
First Period, 9:34, Senators 1-0: The Senators strike first as Erik Karlsson sends in a wrister from the top of the left circle that Thomas appeared to lose in the traffic in front.
The goal was set up by a clean face-off win by Chris Kelly against Tyler Seguin, as Kelly drew it back to Karlsson for the quick shot.
First Period, 8:27, 0-0: The Bruins kill off another penalty, with especially strong work by the penalty killers up front.
Campbell and Marchand created pressure in the offensive zone, Wheeler had a 2-on-1 chance with Daniel Paille broken up only by a diving backcheck by Alfredsson and Mark Recchi had a good shot on goal off a Patrice Bergeron feed.
First Period, 6:27, 0-0: The Senators get their first chance on the power play as Jordan Caron is sent off for interference.
First Period, 4:00, 0-0: It wasn't Thornton or Lucic that goes after Neil. Instead it's the captain Zdeno Chara with his first fight of the year.
Chara ran him in the corner and asked him to go. Neil initially declined, but accepted the second invitation. Chara threw a couple big rights, but then slipped. Neil cocked his fist ready to unload on the fallen Chara, but held up. Five each for fighting.
First Period, 2:14, 0-0: The Bruins can't convert on that first power-play chance.
First Period, 0:14, 0-0: That didn't take long, as the Bruins go on an immediate power play with Phillips in the box for slashing.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: The action is about to get under way after a rousing rendition of both anthems. That's about as loud as I've ever heard this building for the anthems in a non-playoff game.
A hearty contingent of Ottawa fans got things going with a very loud singalong to O Canada.
6:55 p.m.: The Bruins are switching things up a bit for the opening face-off. Instead of starting the energy line of Greg Campbell, Shawn Thornton and Brad Marchand as they have in most recent games, Boston is going with Blake Wheeler between Jordan Caron and Mark Recchi to start this one off.
Dennis Seidenberg and Matt Hunwick get the start on defense.
They'll face an immediate challenge, as the Senators are starting their top line of Milan Michalek, Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson, with former Bruin Sergei Gonchar and Chris Phillips on defense.
Brian Elliott will be playing his 100th game in goal, while Senators defenseman Matt Carkner is also playing his 100th game in this one.
6:45 p.m.: The scratches are in, and no surprises for this one.
The Bruins don't have any healthy bodies to scratch, while David Krejci (concussion) and Johnny Boychuk (forearm) remain sidelined.
The Senators have scratched defenseman Brian Lee and David Hale as expected.
6:30 p.m.: Tim Thomas led the Bruins onto the ice for warm-ups and will look to stay undefeated on the season as Boston hosts the Senators.
Thomas isn't quite perfect against Ottawa in his career, but he's close. He's 17-7-2 with a 2.01 GAA, .934 save percentage and five shutouts against the Senators. That includes a 29-save shutout in Ottawa in the clubs' firts meeting this season.
There were no changes to the lines in warm-ups, while Brian Elliott led the Senators onto the ice. He'll start in goal for Ottawa. Defenseman Filip Kuba also participated in warm-ups and will make his season debut after breaking his leg on the opening day of camp.
6 p.m.: Just an hour to go before the Bruins and Senators battle in a key early-season Northeast Division clash.
The main plotline in this one features a pair of division rivals that come in with 17 points apiece, though the Bruins have played three less games.
There's also an entertaining potential subplot as well. The Bruins were none too pleased that Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil picked a fight with the usually non-combative Dennis Seidenberg at the end of Boston's 4-0 win in Ottawa on Oct. 30. Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic have each taken on Neil in the past, so don't be surprised if either of them re-introduce themselves to Neil in this contest.
4 p.m.: It's been a busy day at the Garden already, and the Bruins and Senators don't take the ice for the opening face-off for another three hours.
The morning began with the welcome sight of David Krejci skating for the first time since suffering a concussion a week ago. He skated with Marco Sturm before the rest of the team took the ice for the morning skate.
Johnny Boychuk did skate with the team though, his first workout with the rest of the squad since suffering a fractured forearm three weeks ago. He remains hopeful of a return to the lineup next weekend.
Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice, indicating he'll get a chance to continue his dominance of the Senators in this one. He'll be opposed by Brian Elliott for the Senators, who will also have defenseman Filip Kuba back for the first time this season since breaking a leg in camp. A full breakdown of the projected lineups can be found here, while an analysis of this key Northeast Division matchup can be found in our Facing Off feature.
8 a.m.: The Bruins will look to bounce back from Thursday's loss to Montreal against an Ottawa club also licking its wounds.
The Senators come to the Garden on Saturday after falling to Vancouver 6-2 on Thursday. That was Ottawa's first loss in five games, as the Senators rattled off a four-game winning streak after dropping a 4-0 decision to the Bruins back on Oct. 30.
Ottawa will be looking to avenge that loss, while the Bruins could be looking for payback on Chris Neil after the Senators tough guy picked a fight with Dennis Seidenberg at the end of that game. Boston needs to pick up two points with a win though, so they can't spend too much time chasing after Neil.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
