GAME DAY: Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators - 7:30pm ET - Thu. Mar. 21st, 2013

Well, let's get this started... the WALKING WOUNDED edition... another Senator down...

Bruins roll into town for a game on Thursday night at SBP... Sens are coming off an amazing come-from-behind win over the Islanders on Tuesday that saw them score 4 goals in the 3rd period. Marc Methot left the game and will likely be out for a bit. Hopefully not long. We're looking more like Bingo than the Sens these days. BoroCop has been called up apparently. Sens are 3 points behind the Bruins in the Division, but the Bruins have two games in hand. B's are coming off two losses in a row and will be hungry for a win. Hopefully the Sens can keep the momentum going. I expect Lehner to get the start. Given the injuries to this team... I'll be very happy with a single point from the game... but would prefer THE WIN!!!!! GO SENS GO!!! The kids are alright.

Bruins will be missing Kelly and Krejci is listed as doubtful. Expect Rask to start.

shabbs wrote:Well, let's get this started... the WALKING WOUNDED edition... another Senator down...

Bruins roll into town for a game on Thursday night at SBP... Sens are coming off an amazing come-from-behind win over the Islanders on Tuesday that saw them score 4 goals in the 3rd period. Marc Methot left the game and will likely be out for a bit. Hopefully not long. We're looking more like Bingo than the Sens these days. BoroCop has been called up apparently. Sens are 3 points behind the Bruins in the Division, but the Bruins have two games in hand. B's are coming off two losses in a row and will be hungry for a win. Hopefully the Sens can keep the momentum going. I expect Lehner to get the start. Given the injuries to this team... I'll be very happy with a single point from the game... but would prefer THE WIN!!!!! GO SENS GO!!! The kids are alright.

Bruins will be missing Kelly and Krejci is listed as doubtful. Expect Rask to start.

BoroCop has been injured. He hasn't played in about 5 games or so...

A point or better would be great, a loss not such a big deal. Hopefully Lehner can really come through with another big game against Boston.

I'd love a regulation win to keep home ice in the post-season a possibility.

On top of Krejci and Kelly, McQuaid is also out, apparently -- injuries mounting for everyone, I suppose.

wprager wrote:I'd love a regulation win to keep home ice in the post-season a possibility.

Home ice against either Montreal or Boston may be a disadvantage in the first round. Way easier to start on the road for a team like the Sens.

NEELY wrote:

wprager wrote:I'd love a regulation win to keep home ice in the post-season a possibility.

Home ice against either Montreal or Boston may be a disadvantage in the first round. Way easier to start on the road for a team like the Sens.

In four games between the Sens and Habs this season, the home team has won each of the four games.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/players/playerpage/565398/adam-mcquaid
Could be out 3-4 weeks, apparently. Wiercioch won't have his former dance partner. He'll have to concentrate on being the scoring machine he has been of late.

ESPN Game Day Preview

With their offense sputtering since the start of their road swing, the Boston Bruins will need some kind of spark as they take on one of the best home teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins, however, have seemed to find ways to win whenever they've played at Ottawa.

Boston looks to break into the win column on the four-game trip and pick up its 11th straight road victory against the surging Senators on Thursday night.

After finishing with one goal once in their first 26 games, the Bruins (19-6-3) have scored that many in each of the first two contests on the trip.

Tyler Seguin scored in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday and Brad Marchand found the back of the net in a 3-1 defeat to Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Boston led 1-0 against the Jets before giving up three scores in the third period.

"All of the sudden, we started falling apart," coach Claude Julien said. "We started turning pucks over. We need to make strong plays and we need to be more composed."

The Bruins, who trail first-place Montreal by two points in the Northeast Division, have dropped four of five on the road since starting the season 8-1-1 away from home.

Boston will try to beat the Senators for the third time in 2013 following a 2-1 overtime win at home Feb. 28 and 3-2 shootout victory at Ottawa on March 11.

Robin Lehner, who has been given the starting nod for this game, has a 1.87 goals-against average in two starts versus the Bruins this season and a 1.94 GAA in four career matchups.

Despite only having a 2-0-4 record, Lehner has played well with a 1.90 GAA in six starts since No. 1 goalie Craig Anderson went down with an ankle injury.

The Senators (16-8-6) could be without defenseman Marc Methot after he sustained a leg injury during a 5-3 road win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Ottawa has already been missing Anderson and Erik Karlsson (Achilles) on the defensive end, but Mike Lundin (concussion) has been cleared and could step in for Methot if necessary.

"He's ready to play," coach Paul MacLean said. "He's practiced a lot and he's been skating quite a bit, so we wouldn't hesitate to put him in."

Sergei Gonchar has produced for the Senators since being pressed into big minutes due to Karlsson's injury. The 38-year-old defenseman has at least one assist in eight straight games, totaling one goal and 12 assists during that stretch.

Gonchar provided the go-ahead goal and two assists Tuesday, while Patrick Wiercioch added three assists as Ottawa moved to within three points of the Bruins in the division.

The Senators will now look for their fourth straight win as they open a season-high five-game homestand. They've won six of seven at Scotiabank Place on the way to a 10-1-3 record there.

Ottawa has 13 goals over the last three contests and hopes to maintain that pace against Boston goalie Tuukka Rask.

Rask, who is 14-4-3 with a 1.92 GAA, has won each of his four career starts against the Senators with a 1.21 GAA.

Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid is expected to be out for three to four weeks after sustaining a shoulder strain against the Jets.

The Bruins have won 11 of 12 overall in this series.

NHL.com Game Day Preview

BRUINS (19-6-3) at SENATORS (16-8-6)

TV: NESN, SNET-E, TVA

Last 10: Boston 5-4-1; Ottawa 4-2-4

Season series: This is the third of five meetings between these Northeast Division rivals. Boston has won the previous two, both in extra time, including a 3-2 shootout victory at Scotiabank Place on Feb. 28. The Bruins held a 5-1-0 advantage over the Senators last season.

Big story: The Bruins were expected by many prognosticators to run away with the division, but they've encountered some unexpected company atop the Northeast, with Montreal sitting on top and Ottawa sitting just three points back of second-place Boston, although the B's have two games in hand. That should make for a spirited matchup on Thursday.

Team Scope:

Bruins: While Boston has mostly performed as expected this season, the month of March may have revealed a vulnerability on a Bruins team many still expect to compete for the Stanley Cup this spring. In four of the Bruins' last 10 games, the team has carried a lead into the third period and lost. That's a surprising statistic for a team that went a perfect 32-0-0 when trailing after 40 minutes last season.

That trend continued in Winnipeg on Tuesday. Following a closely-contested opening period at MTS Centre, Brad Marchand opened the scoring just eight ticks into the second, notching his team-leading 13th of the season. That lead held up until midway through the final period, when Blake Wheeler deflected a Zach Bogosian shot past Tuukka Rask with 23 seconds remaining in Jordan Caron's hooking penalty.

Evander Kane put the Jets ahead just 57 seconds later after Rask failed to secure Grant Clitsome's shot, leaving Kane with a wide-open net. Wheeler added his second goal of the night into an empty net, securing the Bruins' 3-1 defeat.

Senators: Since posting a 1-2-3 record to start the month of March, the Senators have rolled off three straight wins. That streak may have come at the perfect time, as Ottawa opens a season-long five-game homestand Thursday night before embarking on a marathon seven-game road trip that ends April 15 in Boston.

Following a 4-1 home win over Winnipeg on Sunday, the Senators visited the Islanders on Long Island on Tuesday looking for vengeance against a club that beat them 3-2 in a shootout just two weeks earlier. The Senators were outplayed for most of the opening 40 minutes, being outshot 21-13 and outscored 3-1. If there was a silver lining to the events of the first two periods, it was new Senator Matt Kassian, who notched his first NHL goal in over a year.

But as they have all season, the Senators found a way to come back, scoring four unanswered goals in the third period, including Sergei Gonchar's game-winner with a minute remaining, and picked up a 5-3 victory.

Who's hot: Marchand and Patrice Bergeron both have four points in their last five games for the Bruins. … With star defenseman Erik Karlsson gone for the season with an Achilles injury, Gonchar has been on fire, collecting 13 points over an eight-game point streak. Another defenseman, Patrick Wiercioch, has six points in his last four games.

Injury report: Bruins forward Adam McQuaid left Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. Center David Krejci is likely out with a bruised knee, while Chris Kelly (broken tibia) is on injured reserve. … Ottawa's IR is fully stocked, with Jared Cowen (hip), Milan Michalek (knee), Karlsson (Achilles), Jason Spezza (back), Craig Anderson (ankle), Dave Dziurzynski (concussion) and Mike Lundin (concussion) all out. Marc Methot also left Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury.

Interesting statistic from the above:

In four of the Bruins' last 10 games, the team has carried a lead into the third period and lost. That's a surprising statistic for a team that went a perfect 32-0-0 when trailing after 40 minutes last season.

Combine that with the Sens scoring 4 in the third in their last game. Not that I advocate falling behind on these guys.

Bruins are getting worn down... you knew this would happen closer to the end of the year because of their schedule.

I don't see any way that we finish in the top 4 in the East. 6th place would be ideal, but that's also a crapshoot.