By: Jack Studley | Follow me on Twitter/X @jackstudley13
The Boston Bruins (11-7-0) are back on the road, and back in Ottawa for a battle with the Senators (8-5-4). Riding a seven-game win streak into this game, the Bruins are bracing themselves for a challenging part of the schedule. This is the first of a two-game road trip, with the second game scheduled for Saturday night in Montreal. Tonight marks the third matchup of the season between Boston and Ottawa, and all three have taken place within the last 17 days.
The Bruins are not changing their lineup ahead of this game, and why would they? It has been working. Jeffrey Viel is in the lineup for the third straight game, meaning Johnny Beecher is the extra forward for tonight. Mason Lohrei will also play in his third consecutive game, remaining on a pair with Henri Jokiharju. Nikita Zadorov and Charlie McAvoy stay on the top pair, and the Andrew Peeke-Hampus Lindholm pair remains untouched.
Alex Steeves scored his first goal as a Boston Bruin on Tuesday night. He has slotted into the second line in the absence of Casey Mittelstadt, and he will continue to play alongside Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson tonight. The second line has been clicking, even in Mittelstadt’s absence. Pavel Zacha, who won the last meeting for the Bruins in overtime, has 5-10–15 this season, and eight of those points are on the man-advantage. Arvidsson has five goals this season, and they have come in the last nine games. He is currently one shy of 200 career goals.
On October 27, the Senators drummed the Boston Bruins by a score of 7-2 inside the Canadian Tire Centre. Since that game, the Bruins have not lost, and the seven-game win streak includes a 3-2 overtime win over the Senators. The Senators, who sit two points behind the Bruins in the Atlantic Division, boast a 5-2-2 home record; in contrast, the Bruins are 3-4-0 on the road, looking to improve their road record to .500 tonight. In the first meeting between these two teams, Ottawa’s power play went four-for-five; however, the Senators have not had much success on the power play since the calendar flipped to November. They are one of five teams in the league without a power play goal this month (0-for-11).
The Senators, who have been without Brady Tkachuk since he suffered a thumb injury on October 13, also have to deal with another blow. Thomas Chabot sustained an injury on Tuesday and was ruled out of tonight’s game. Nikolas Matinpalo will slide into the lineup for Ottawa, and so will Kurtis MacDermid up front.
TSN 1200 Ottawa reported that Joonas Korpisalo was the first goalie off the ice for the Bruins this morning, likely giving him the start in goal. Tonight is another matchup for Korpisalo against his former team, and he has yet to lose, going 2-0-0 against the Senators since joining the Bruins, and posting a 7-2-1 record all-time against Ottawa. Both Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman have provided the Bruins with reliable and consistent performances during the win streak. Per the Senators’ projected lines, Leevi Merilainen is expected to be the starting goalie. Tonight will be Merilainen’s fourth game of the season, and his second home start against the Bruins – he was in goal for the Sens’ 7-2 win.
The Bruins and Senators will get underway just after 7:00 PM from Kanata, Ontario, tonight. Locally, the game will be televised on NESN, and Country 102.5 has the radio feed tonight due to the conflict with the New England Patriots. After tonight, the Bruins will not face Ottawa again until December 21, which will conclude the season series.
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