Final, Bruins 4-2: The Bruins didn't play a very inspired game, but they came alive long enough in the third to pull out a win over Senators in Ottawa.
It was a solid debut for two of the new Bruins. Tomas kaberle was a minus-1 in 19:34, but showed off the skill he is going to add to the club's defense, and especially to its power play. Chris Kelly was even in 15:09, taking a late tripping penalty that led to an Ottawa power-play goal, but also showed that he has the ability to be an effective role player.
The Bruins are now 2-0 to start their season-long six-game road trip. They'll come back home to practice this weekend, then head out West to face Calgary on Tuesday.
Third Period, 18:30, Bruins 4-2: The Senators get one back as Alex Kovalev tips in a power-play goal at the right post.
Third Period, 17:15, Bruins 4-1: The Bruins are short-handed again as Chris Kelly is called for tripping.
Third Period, 15:52, Bruins 4-1: The Bruins add another as Patrice Bergeron steals the puck behind the net and feeds it out front to Brad Marchand.
Marchand quickly fires it home for his second goal of the night and this one is finally comfortable for the Bruins.
Third Period, 15:20, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins finally break through on the power play, with Dennis Seidenberg one-timing a blast from the right circle off a feed from Horton.
Krejci gets the other assist, but Kaberle was on the ice and helped set up that play for the Bruins.
Third Period, 13:45, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins survive that penalty, though Ottawa created some quality chances. Now it's Boston's turn, as Ryan Shannon goes to the box for slashing Daniel Paille.
Third Period, 11:38, Bruins 2-1: The Senators are going back on the power play with Horton sent off for holding. Huge penalty kill for the Bruins here.
Third Period, 9:47, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins take the lead for the first time in this one, as Nathan Horton fires in a wrister.
Horton took a pass from David Krejci and slipped the puck inside the near post from the left circle.
Third Period, 7:13, 1-1: Rask saves the day with a huge save there on Foligno. Remember that one if the Bruins pull this one out.
Third Period, 6:11, 1-1: The Bruins are running out of time to finally show up and show they care about these two points. They've let an undermanned and overmatched Senators squad hang around way too long in this one.
Third Period, 2:30, 1-1: The Sens aren't any more successful at converting on the power play than the Bruins have been so far in this one as the sides are back at even strength.
Third Period, 0:30, 1-1: So much for that power play, as Mark Recchi takes a tripping call to wipe out the man-advantage. It will be 4 on 4, then the Sens get their first power-play chance of the night briefly.
Third Period, 0:00, 1-1: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins opening the third with 1:42 left on their fourth power-play chance of the night.
Second Intermission Notes: It was a slightly better effort by the Bruins in the second, but Boston still isn't playing with nearly enough energy and intensity in this one.
The Bruins did outshot Ottawa 13-8 in the period, but the Sens still hold a 20-18 overall edge, as well as a 21-11 advantage in hits.
Tomas Kaberle is a minus-1 with no shots and no hits in 13:30. He does have a blocked shot and made a couple nice plays to keep pucks in at the line on the power play. That power play has looked better in this game, but the Bruins still have not scored on three opportunities, with a fourth carrying over to the start of the third.
Chris Kelly has a hit and a blocked shot in 10:36 so far in his debut, and he's the only Bruin with a winning mark on draws at 4-2. Solid game so far by Tyler Seguin, who has an assist on Boston's lone goal and is playing like he doesn't want to return to the press box when Rich Peverley arrives.
End Second Period, 1-1: The Bruins and Senators traded goals in the second, and now head to the third tied at 1-1, but Boston will open the final frame with a man-advantage.
Second Period, 19:42, 1-1: The Bruins get another power-play chance in the closing seconds as Matt Carkner is called for tripping Recchi.
Second Period, 15:47, 1-1: The Bruins come up empty on the power play again. Kaberle did make two nice back-to-back plays to keep the puck in at the blue line, which led to a good scoring chance by Recchi.
Second Period, 13:47, 1-1: The Bruins are going back on the power play again with Erik Karlsson called for holding after a mad scramble in the Ottawa crease nearly produced a goal for Boston.
Second Period, 10:33, 1-1: The Senators use their timeout to rest their troops caught out there for a long shift and forced to stay out after an icing call.
Second Period, 9:40, 1-1: The Bruins are playing much better this period. Strong shift there from the Krejci line keeping the Sens bottled up in their zone and creating chances.
Second Period, 6:47, 1-1: The Bruins pull even as Brad Marchand answers Butler's tally.
After Butler nearly scored a second goal, the Bruins counterattacked with numbers and Marchand finished the chance from the right circle off a pass by Tyler Seguin.
Second Period, 5:55, Senators 1-0: The Bruins can't convert again, despite setting up in the Ottawa zone for a decent amount of time.
Second Period, 3:55, Senators 1-0: The Bruins get another power-play chance to pull even as Nick Foligno goes off for tripping.
Second Period, 2:50, Senators 1-0: The Senators do strike this time, with Marlborough, Mass. native Bobby Butler scoring against his hometown team.
Butler pulled the back around Seidenberg in the slot and flipped it past Rask from the left side.
Second Period, 2:03, 0-0: The Senators threaten again as Andre Benoit throws one on net from the left boards with Chris Neil in front screening Rask.
Second Period, 0:00, 0-0: The second period is under way, with the Bruins looking for a little better effort from their new-look group than they had in the first.
First Intermission Notes: It wasn't the start the Bruins were looking for in the first, but they can take some solace in the fact that it's still a scoreless deadlock.
That's mostly due to Tuukka Rask, who has been strong early with 12 saves as Ottawa has a 12-5 edge in shots. The Senators also hold a 16-5 advantage in hits, as the Bruins didn't have much jump playing their second game in two nights after making a pair of big trades.
Tomas Kaberle had a relatively uneventful first period with the Bruins, skating eight shifts for 6:27 with no hits, shots or any other stats. Chris Kelly did have a hit, a blocked shot and was 3-1 on faceoffs in 5:47 in his first period as a Bruin against his old club. Kaberle did show some promise on the power play, as the first unit with him and Zdeno Chara at the points created some good pressure and puck possession on the only power-play opportunity in the period.
End First Period, 0-0: The first period is in the books, and the Bruins are lucky to have it still scoreless as the senators controlled play for most of that frame.
First Period, 18:49, 0-0: A rare scoring bid by the Bruins after Bergeron forces a turnover. Recchi ends up with the chance from the left circle, but Lehner makes the save.
First Period, 17:11, 0-0: Ottawa's overhaul continues even mid-game, as one-time Bruin Craig Anderson has now taken over as the senators' backup goalie. Anderson was acquired from Colorado earlier in the day and just arrived and got suited up. Pascal Leclaire had been dressed as the backup until Anderson's arrival. Teams are allowed to make lineup changes during the game only with goalies.
First Period, 14:30, 0-0: Rask is under siege here, as the Bruins are struggling to get the puck out of their zone.
First Period, 11:30, 0-0: The Bruins are looking a little sloppy early. Ottawa with the better jump so far, but Rask is keeping it scoreless.
First Period, 9:17, 0-0: The Senators with a threat as Nick Foligno comes in down the left wing, forcing Rask to make a nice save at the short-side post.
First Period, 8:29, 0-0: The Bruins can't convert on the man-advantage, but good pressure from the first unit, which now features Kaberle and Chara at the points and Bergeron, Krejci and Recchi up front.
First Period, 6:29, 0-0: The Bruins will get the first power-play opportunity of the night, as Francis Lessard heads to the penalty box for high-sticking. That's a familiar place for Lessard, who had 187 PIMs in 36 games in the AHL before being called up on Friday.
First Period, 5:04, 0-0: Chris Neil is one familiar name to Bruins fans who hasn't been dealt away by Ottawa yet, and he reintroduces himself to Andrew Ference with a big hit in the corner.
First Period, 1:20, 0-0: Tomas Kaberle takes his first shift as a Bruin. He is paired with Dennis Seidenberg to start.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: The game is under way. Get ready for a lot of unfamiliar names on the Senators' side, as most of their Binghamton farm team is now up in Ottawa.
7:35 p.m.: in addition to Rask, the Bruins will start Zdeno Chara and Steven Kampfer on defense, with Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi up front.
7:30 p.m.: Welcome to the new-look Bruins.
Rich Peverley won't be joining the team until Sunday, but new additions Tomas Kaberle and Chris Kelly will make their Bruins debuts as Boston continues its six-game road trip in Ottawa on Friday.
Johnny Boychuk is the scratch on defense to make room for Kaberle, while Tuukka Rask will start his second straight game in goal after winning Thursday against the Islanders.
8 a.m.: The Bruins snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive 6-3 win over the Islanders on Thursday, and they'll look to now starting a winning streak Friday in Ottawa.
The Senators should be ripe for the plucking, as the club is in freefall and in the midst of a major fire sale. There have been seven trades in the NHL since Feb. 10, and Ottawa has been involved in four of them. They've shipped out veteran forwards Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly and Jarkko Ruutu and goalie Brian Elliott, and only goalie Craig Anderson has come back, with the rest of the return coming in the form of draft picks.
To fill the void left by those deals and a slew of injuries, Ottawa has also recalled six players from its AHL affiliate in Binghamton in the last four days. To say this will be a makeshift lineup facing the Bruins would be an understatement.
Ottawa currently sits last in the East and just one point ahead of Edmonton for the worst record overall in the NHL at 18-30-9 (45 points). The Senators have the third-worst team goals-against average (3.23) and average the second-fewest goals per game (2.24) in the NHL, and they've won just twice in their last 20 games (2-13-5 in that span).
The Bruins can't take them too lightly, however. The Senators are still capable of pulling the occasional surprise. They are sure to be loose, playing with nothing to lose and with so many youngsters up from the AHL looking to win permanent jobs with the big club, they likely play hard.
The Bruins can't afford to give away any points as they look to hold on to the top spot in the Northeast Division, so getting another win in this game is vital.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
