By: Jack Studley | Follow me on Twitter/X @jackstudley13
The Boston Bruins (8-7-0) will host the Ottawa Senators (6-5-2) at the TD Garden on Thursday night. It will be the second time the two Atlantic Division teams will meet in the last ten days, but this time the matchup is stateside. Ottawa’s 7-2 victory on October 27 was the last time that the Bruins have lost a game. The Bruins have won the four that followed the loss and are riding into Thursday night on a four-game win streak.
In preparation for the game ahead, the Bruins skated at Warrior Ice Arena on Thursday morning. The lines looked the same as they have throughout the win streak, which has fared well for the Bruins. Mason Lohrei and Jeffrey Viel skated as extra skaters during the morning rushes at Warrior. This will be the fifth straight game Lohrei is expected to be scratched.
Marat Khusnutdinov, fresh off the game-tying and shootout-winning goals on Tuesday, will continue to center Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak on the first line. The second line with Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha, and Viktor Arvidsson is hoping to continue the hot streak they have found together. Arvidsson has found the back of the net four times this season, all of them coming in the last six games. Zacha enters this game on a four-game point streak (1-3–4).
The Bruins return to home ice after a quick trip to Long Island; they are 6-3-0 at home so far this season, including victories in their last five home games. The Senators are sub-.500 on the road, putting together a 2-3-1 record away from home. However, the Senators come into Thursday’s game with a power play clicking at a 27.1% rate, ranking seventh across the league. The Bruins’ penalty kill ranks 12th, killing penalties 82.8% of the time. Now, Ottawa’s penalty kill sits dead-last in the NHL, killing at a 62.5% rate. The name of this game will be special teams again; last time these two played each other, the Senators connected on four of five power play opportunities.
The Boston Sports Journal’s Joe Haggerty reported that Marco Sturm said Joonas Korpisalo is starting tonight. He will be the guy to avenge the 7-2 loss last Monday. He did not play in that game, but did pitch a shutout against his former team last year in a 2-0 Bruins win. Korpisalo has won two games during the Bruins’ four-game win streak, pitching victories against the Islanders and Sabres. On the other end, the Senators’ projected lines show that former Bruin Linus Ullmark will get his 12th start of the season. He has pitched a 3.41 goals against average and an .861 save percentage with a 5-4-1 record to show.
The Bruins have recently struggled against the Senators, dropping the season series last year with a record of 1-2-1 and losing the first meeting this season. The Bruins will put their four-game win streak and five-game home win streak on the line tonight at 7:00 PM, and the game will be carried on NESN for fans in the New England area.
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