Game Preview: Senators vs Bruins

This is the second out of three match ups for the Senators against the Bruins.

The Senators are 12-17-1 going into this match up. While the sharply contrasted Bruins team is sitting at a record of 20-4-6.

This is likely going to be an up hill battle all the way for a Senators team just coming off of a somewhat disastrous five game road trip.

The Senators will start Anders Nilsson and the Bruins will put in starter Tuukka Rask.

The Bruins power play is clocking in at 28.4 (3rd) while the Senators are quite a different story, at 9.6 (31st).

Scott Sabourin and Christian Wolanin are out for the Sens and Patrice Bergeron, Kevan Miller and Karson Kuhlman are out of the lineup for the Bruins.

Ottawa is looking to ignite their dead power play, which currently ranks dead last. Although they don’t have the stars of a Bruins power play, they definitely should be much better.

This is a job for the Senators coaching staff as well as the players to figure out a plan going forward.

The power plays of these two teams couldn’t be more different, but surprisingly the penalty kills are remarkably similar. The Bruins are at 84.4 (8th) and the Sens are at 82.6 (12th).

The Bruins PK would probably be better had they signed Noel Acciari who was an incredible penalty killer in his time in Boston. He signed with the Florida Panthers in the offseason.

The only hope for the Senators to win this game is to set the tone early with a goal or even a big hit from Borowiecki or Tkachuk. Bergeron is out for the game so D.J. Smith can role his lines now with a bit more ease.

Another thing is the Senators need to figure out a way to limit the opportunities for Bostons big guns like, Marchand, Pastrnak, Krejci and McAvoy.

The game is at 7:30 Eastern Time at the Canadian Tire Center, so don’t miss it!