Bruins at Senators
THE STORY: The common theme of the Boston Bruins’ losses this month has been a lack of offense. For a team that was regularly posting four or more goals from November until the middle of January, the drought has been puzzling. The Bruins have not won back-to-back games since Jan. 10 and 12 and are averaging 0.6 goals in seven losses this month. The Ottawa Senators have had no trouble scoring. The Senators registered 21 goals in winning four straight and have pulled to within three points of Boston in the Northeast Division.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), CBC, RDS (Canada)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (36-20-3): Boston still ranks second in the NHL in scoring due to that stretch of over two months in which it pounded the back of the opposing net at will. The last six weeks have been a struggle, with inconsistency on both ends. The Bruins scored three goals on six shots in the first period of a 4-2 win at St. Louis on Wednesday. In their next game, they went into Buffalo on Friday and struggled from the start in an eventual 2-1 shootout loss. Boston has three games in hand on Ottawa but has fallen seven points behind the New York Rangers for the top spot in the East.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (32-22-8): Ottawa got some bad news on Thursday, when starting goaltender Craig Anderson cut his right hand while making himself a meal. He had to be treated at the hospital and is out indefinitely. Anderson has been on a roll recently, posting shutouts in two of his last four starts. Still, he has taken a backseat to the offense. Jason Spezza is riding a seven-game points streak while defenseman Erik Karlsson has seven points in the last two. Milan Michalek has multiple points in two of the last three games.
OVERTIME:
1. The teams will meet again in Boston on Tuesday.
2. The Bruins have taken seven straight in the series, including three in a row in Ottawa.
3. Spezza has 39 points - 16 goals - in 46 career games against Boston.