Bruins earn convincing win over Senators
BOSTON -- Riley Nash scored his first two goals since Nov. 28 and added an assist, and the sizzling Boston Bruins came out of the holiday break with a convincing 5-1 victory over the floundering Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.
The win, the Bruins' fifth straight, ended Boston's six-game losing streak against the Senators -- three of the games at home. Ottawa also knocked the Bruins out of last year's playoffs in six games.
Nash matched his career high for points in a single game.
Boston's Tuukka Rask made 25 saves to go to 9-0-1 in his past 10 starts. David Backes and Danton Heinen both posted a goal and an assist for the Bruins (20-10-5). Defenseman Kevan Miller scored his first goal in 35 games, and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had two assists for Boston, 14-3-1 in its past 18 games.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the Senators, who are ahead of only two teams in the overall NHL standings. Ottawa (11-16-8) has lost eight of its last 11 and is 3-13-3 in its last 19.
Defenseman Thomas Chabot scored the lone goal for the Senators -- scoring on a slap shot with his team down 3-0 in the second period.
While Rask improved to 12-8-3, Senators goalie Craig Anderson was shaky at the other end, making just 18 saves. His career record against the Bruins fell to 12-12-0.
Miller and Heinen scored 3:06 apart in the first period to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead, and Boston never looked back.
NOTES: Senators RW Bobby Ryan, who missed a game with a finger injury, returned to action. ... Boston D Adam McQuaid, who has been out since Oct. 19 with a broken leg, has cleared to play, but there was no word on whether he would return as early as Thursday night, when the Bruins visit the Washington Capitals. The Bruins have lost 11 straight games to the Caps, two of them -- both at home -- this season. ... Boston Fs David Krejci (back) and Peter Cehlarik (lower body) are practicing but didn't play. ... The Senators host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night and then the Bruins on Saturday.