Boston Bruins Down Ottawa Senators 5-0 In First Half Of Home And Home

It wasn’t really as one-sided as the score would indicate, but the bottom line is, the Ottawa Senators once again failed to put together back to back wins as they followed up Monday’s 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-0 loss Friday night to the Boston Bruins.  Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was very good making 33 saves for the shutout, especially in a first period dominated by the Senators but scoreless.

Dec 27, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) scores a shorthanded goal on Ottawa Senators goalie Robin Lehner (40) during the third period of Boston

The Senators kept even with the Bruins for over 36 minutes before Jarome Iginla pounced on a rebound on the power play to give the Bruins the icebreaker nearly 17 minutes into the second.  Then David Krejci scored in the first minute of the third and the Bruins gained momentum that the Senators could not stop.  Reilly Smith scored just past the midway point of the period and then again with 2 and a half minutes left to make it 4-0 before superpest Brad Marchand scored a shorthanded breakaway to ice it with 27 seconds remaining to turn what was a pretty close game into a virtual blowout.

Robin Lehner stopped 37 of 42 shots, and was hung out to dry by his teammates for the most part, with most of the goals not being of the weak variety.  He faced 37 shots over the final 40 minutes, after only facing 5 in the first frame. That was where the Senators failed to capitalize on their chances, firing 15 shots at Rask but unable to beat the Finnish netminder even once.

Nobody really stood out as having an off game for the Senators, while there weren’t very many memorable performances either.  Every skater except Eric Condra and Jean-Gabriel Pageau was either -1 or -2 so it was spread throughout the lineup.

The Senators will look to return the favor on Saturday night when they host the same Bruins in the back half of the home and home series that will bring the first half of a so-far disappointing season to a close.