Senators at Bruins
The Ottawa Senators are well-positioned to nail down a postseason berth, but they still have to navigate a daunting seven-game road trip that gets underway Tuesday against a major nemesis in the Boston Bruins. Ottawa sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference - four points behind Northeast Division rival Boston - but it has lost 12 of the last 13 meetings with the Bruins, including all three this season.
Boston is only three points behind division leader Montreal despite a lengthy offensive drought. The Bruins have scored two or fewer goals seven times in their last eight games, a span during which they have gone 3-4-1. Boston had dropped five of seven before winning 2-0 at Buffalo on Sunday, but the Bruins have gone 5-0-1 in their last six home games. The Senators had won six of seven before a 4-0 home loss to rival Toronto on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Rogers Sportsnet East, TVA (Ottawa), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (19-10-6): Goaltender Robin Lehner has made only eight starts, but three have come against Boston. Lehner certainly hasn't played poorly versus the Bruins, allowing a total of six goals and losing in overtime and a shootout despite making 44 and 33 saves, respectively. He's had little margin of error with which to work, receiving four goals of support. Fellow netminder Ben Bishop, who started the last three contests, had a four-game winning streak snapped in Saturday's loss to the Maple Leafs.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (22-8-4): Boston's shutout win in Buffalo ended a string of slow starts in which the team had faced a 2-0 deficit in each of the previous four games. While the Bruins are mired in an offensive funk, right wing Nathan Horton has scored in three consecutive games for the first time in more than two years. He had only one goal in the previous 14 contests. Tuukka Rask is expected to be in net for Boston. He's won each of his four career starts against Ottawa but has only one victory in his last five overall outings (1-3-1).
OVERTIME
1. The Bruins (90.8 percent) and Senators (89.1) rank 1-2 in the league in penalty killing.
2. Boston is 11-2-2 at TD Garden, which leads the Eastern Conference for fewest regulation home losses.
3. Ottawa's only win in the last 13 meetings with the Bruins was a 1-0 victory in Boston on Feb. 28, 2012.