Bruins Trying to Make TD Garden Tougher Place to Play, Starting by Welcoming Senators to Town

The Bruins suffered their first division loss of the year on Thursday when Montreal took a 3-1 decision at the Garden, but Boston will get a chance to bounce back right away with another key Northeast Division showdown on tap for Saturday.

Ottawa pays its first visit to the Garden this year smarting from a 6-2 loss of its own to Vancouver on Thursday, and the Senators will also be looking for payback for Boston's 4-0 win in Ottawa back on Oct. 30.

Ottawa had won four straight games after that loss before Thursday's setback, and the Bruins are plenty wary of the Senators.

"They're a team that's playing better, they're playing with a lot more confidence," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "They took a bit of beating [Thursday] and that creates a red flag sometimes so we better be ready for a team wanting to redeem themselves."

When and Where

Boston Bruins (8-4-1, 17 points) vs. Ottawa Senators (8-7-1, 17 points)
Nov. 13, 7 p.m. (NESN)
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.

Head to Head

This is the second of six meetings this season between the Northeast Division rivals. The Bruins won the first up in Ottawa on Oct. 30, as Tim Thomas made 29 saves for the shutout in a 4-0 victory. The Bruins lead the all-time series 56-30-8-7, including a 30-15-5-1 mark in Boston.

Goaltending Matchup

Tim Thomas has come back to earth a bit after his blistering start, but he's still perfect on the year at 8-0-0 with a 1.39 GAA, .923 save percentage and three shutouts. He even posted a win in his last start despite giving up a season-high four goals in Wednesday's 7-4 win in Pittsburgh. He's dominated Ottawa throughout his career, going 17-7-2 with a 2.01 GAA, .934 save percentage and five shutouts. Tuukka Rask remains winless after Thursday's 3-1 loss to Montreal. He is 0-4-1 with a 2.75 GAA and .923 save percentage. With Thomas' success against the Senators, Rask has only one appearance against Ottawa, allowing two goals on 17 shots in 30 minutes in relief of Thomas last Jan. 18.

For the Senators, Brian Elliott is 8-4-0 with a 2.81 GAA and a .911 save percentage, and is 2-3-3 with a 2.82 GAA and a .903 save percentage against the Bruins. Like Rask, Pascal Leclaire came into the season as the No. 1, but is still looking for his first win at 0-3-1 with a 3.92 GAA and an .882 save percentage. He has played just one game against Boston, stopping all 19 shots he faced in 46 minutes.

Stat Sheet

Bruins

• Milan Lucic is a popular player at the Garden, but he's struggled to produce in front of the Garden faithful of late. He had just one goal at home all of last season, and that was an empty-netter in the final home game of the regular season against Carolina. This year, he's off to a blazing start with six goals, but all of them have come in the club's seven road games, while he does not have a goal in six home contests.

•  Thomas' domination of Canadian teams goes beyond his success against the Senators. Of his 20 career shutouts, 12 have come against Canadian-based clubs in just 81 games against those six teams. In 190 games against American clubs, the 2010 U.S. Olympian has just eight shutouts.

• Patrice Bergeron seems to be enjoying his time on the top line. After collecting just six points in 11 games centering the second line, Bergeron moved up between Lucic and Nathan Horton after David Krejci was injured and has picked up three points in two games with his new linemates.

Senators

• Daniel Alfredsson came into the first meeting of the season with the Bruins red hot, having posted 6-5-11 totals in the previous seven games. But the Bruins shut him down that night, beginning an on-going slump. Including that game, Alfredsson has now gone six games without a goal, with just two assists and a minus-6 rating in that span.

• While Alfredsson is struggling, Jason Spezza has caught fire. He has 3-4-7 totals in his last four games, though he was held point-less in two of those games. He piled up three points against Atlanta and four against the Islanders.

• Peter Regin is also hot of late, with six points in his last four games. That came after managing no goals and just three points in his first 12 games of the year. Regin has also been held without a point in eight career games against the Bruins.

Infirmary Report

Bruins

• Center David Krejci (concussion) is out at least a week.

• Defenseman Johnny Boychuk (fractured left forearm) is expected to miss another two weeks.

• Center Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome) is out indefinitely.

• Left wing Marco Sturm (knee surgery) is expected to be out until at least early December.

• Center Trent Whitfield (ruptures Achilles) could miss the entire year.

Senators

• Defenseman Filip Kuba (broken leg) has yet to play this season, but could return in this game.
• Defenseman Brian Lee (neck) is questionable.

Familiar Faces

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar played briefly in Boston after being acquired from the Capitals at the trade deadline in 2004. Forward Ryan Shannon hails from Darien, Conn. The Bruins have plenty of ties to the Senators organization, with general manager Peter Chiarelli serving as Ottawa's assistant GM before coming to Boston and captain Zdeno Chara playing four seasons on the Senators' blue line before signing with Boston in 2006.

Fight Card

There was just one fight in the first meeting between these clubs this season, but it may have set the stage for more fireworks to come. Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil upset many of the Bruins when he picked a fight with Dennis Seidenberg at the end of the game. Former teammate Brian McGrattan was particularly enraged. McGrattan has since been demoted to Providence, but both Lucic and Shawn Thornton have tangled with Neil in the past and could be looking to renew acquaintances on Saturday.

"A little extra," said Lucic when asked if Neil's fight with Seidenberg added any spice to this matchup. "I know McGrattan had some things to say, and we'll just see what happens [Saturday] night."

Seidenberg himself doesn't seem too concerned with getting payback. "I don't really think about that anymore," said the Bruins defenseman. "I didn't really think that [fight] was too bad, but other people thought different I guess, so we'll see what's going to happen [Saturday]."

Seidenberg even joked about looking for a rematch. When asked if he thought any of his teammates would try to fight Neil, Seidenberg replied, "No, I'll take him on again," though he then quickly added, "No, no I'm kidding."

The Senators have 12 fighting majors so far, with heavyweight Matt Carkner leading the way with five and Neil adding four. They each warmed up for this one by taking on Vancouver tough guy Rick Rypien on Thursday. The Bruins rested their knuckles on Thursday, snapping a streak of seven games with at least one fight. But Boston still has 15 fighting majors in just 13 games, with Mark Stuart and Greg Campbell each contributing three and Thornton, Lucic and Adam McQuaid each adding two. Last season, the six games between the division rivals produced four fights, including two heavyweight bouts between Thornton and Carkner, who also had a preseason scrap last year.

Outlook

After their strong start to the season, the Bruins have just one win in their last four games. They are also just 2-3-1 at home, and need to start making the Garden a tougher place for opposing teams to visit. Ottawa is just a .500 club on the road at 3-3-1 and the Senators have managed just three wins in eight division games so far. The Bruins will try to keep Ottawa from gaining any ground in the division, while picking up a little momentum of their own at home in this one.