The Bruins finally close out their longest road trip of the season on Saturday, and they'll need a victory in Ottawa to finish the journey over .500.
They'll also need a victory to help keep the Senators at bay in the race for the Northeast Division title. The Bruins' lead is down to just three points, though Boston does have three games in hand on Ottawa. The Senators can still pull within a single point with a regulation win, and could pull ahead of the Bruins with a sweep of the home-and-home series, which concludes Tuesday back in Boston.
While the Bruins have gone 2-2-1 so far on the trip and haven't strung back-to-back wins together since early January, Ottawa has won four straight by a combined 21-4 margin.
The Senators did lose starting goalie Craig Anderson, who is out indefinitely after cutting his hand in an off-ice accident. Former Bruin Alex Auld (2-3-2, 3.28 GAA, .883 save percentage) takes over as the starter, while Robin Lehner has been called up their AHL affiliate in Binghamton to serve as the backup.
The Bruins didn't have a morning skate after playing Friday night in Buffalo, but Tim Thomas is expected to get the nod in goal after Tuukka Rask played in Friday's 2-1 shootout loss. Thomas has dominated the Senators over the years, especially in Ottawa, where he is 10-4-1 with a 1.92 GAA, .943 save percentage and three shutouts.
The Bruins aren't expected to make any lineup changes, though it's possible Josh Hennessy, who spent four seasons in the Senators system and played his first 20 NHL games with Ottawa, could get back into the lineup in favor of Carter Camper or Jordan Caron. Hennessy has sat out the last two games since Carter was recalled after playing the previous two.
The Senators will insert some of their toughness into the lineup to match up with the Bruins. Bruising defenseman Matt Carkner, who fought Milan Lucic earlier this season and has had multiple bouts with Shawn Thornton over the years, is expected to replace Brian Lee on the blue line after sitting out the last six games.
Zenon Konopka, however, is expected to remain a scratch for the seventh straight game. Konopka, who played 26 straight games and 40 of 41 before this recent stretch, still leads the NHL with 17 fighting majors, one ahead of Thornton. Konopka was second in fights last season with 25 and led the league two years ago with 33.
Greg Kimmerly and Dan O'Halloran will be the referees, with Brian Murphy and Dan Schachte working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-David Krejci
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Jordan Caron-Carter Camper-Benoit Pouliot
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Nathan Horton (concussion), Rich Peverley (knee), Andrew Bodnarchuk, Josh Hennessy
Projected Senators lines
Forwards
Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Bobby Butler
Colin Greening-Kyle Turris-Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno-Jim O'Brien-Chris Neil
Kaspars Daugavins-Zack Smith-Erik Condra
Defense
Chris Phillips-Sergei Gonchar
Filip Kuba-Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen-Matt Carkner
Goalies
Alex Auld
Robin Lehner
Scratches: Brian Lee, Zenon Konopka, Craig Anderson (hand)
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