Tonight's Officials
Referees Dan O'Halloran (13), Brian Pochmara (16)
Linesmen Matt MacPherson (83), Mark Shewchyk (92)
Ntl. Anthem Rene Rancourt
WAYBACK MACHINE
BOSTON vs OTTAWA, LIFETIME SERIES
The Bruins and Senators are meeting for the 134th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 74-41-8-10 record and a 421-336 scoring edge in those games.
The Bruins are 40-20-5-3 in their 67 home games of this lifetime series with a 229-176 scoring advantage in those contests.
The Bruins are winless in their last 5 games vs. the Senators at 0-4-1, including a 3-1 loss in Ottawa on 11/24, 4-2 road setback on 3/6 & 3-2 loss in Boston on 3/21 in the 1st 3 games of this season’s series … They are 2-6-3 in their last 11 games overall vs. the Senators following a 16-4-0 stretch in their previous 20 meetings … They are 6-3-2 in their last 11 games vs. Ottawa in Boston.
Fun Fact – The Senators are 1 of 3 teams that have never swept the Bruins in a season series (PHI, TB).
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Bruins host the Senators tonight in the 4th & final game between these teams and the 2nd of 2 this season at TD Garden … The Bruins are 44-30-6 thus far this season with a 23-16-0 mark on home ice … They are 18-10-1 vs. Atlantic Division opponents and are 27-19-6 vs. Eastern Conference teams this season.
They clinched a playoff berth with a 4-0 win vs. Tampa Bay on Tuesday & are looking to finish as high as 2nd in the Atlantic Division standings.
MILESTONES APPROACHING
David Backes is playing his 800th NHL game tonight.
Backes is 2 points shy of his 500th NHL point.
Drew Stafford is 2 points short of his 400th NHL point.
INJURIES (158 total man-games lost) / SUSPENSION
Brad Marchand - Serving game 1 of a 2-game NHL-imposed suspension for incident 4/4 vs. TB
Tim Schaller – Lower body injury suffered 3/8 vs DET; Has missed 13 games.
Frank Vatrano – Upper body injury suffered 3/29 in practice; Has missed 4 games.
Jimmy Hayes – Lower body injury suffered 4/1 vs FLA; Has missed 2 games.
https://link.nhl.com/static/gamenotes/public/20162017/[email protected]?1491502507000
The Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, who meet at TD Garden on Thursday night, may get together next week in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
First, though, the Senators have to get to the postseason.
The Bruins ended their two-year absence from the playoffs Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lighting. Now, they have two games left to see where they fit into the picture.
Boston can still finish second or third in the Atlantic Division, or in the second Eastern Conference wild-card position, with the latter meaning a date with the league-leading Washington Capitals.
Starting play Thursday night, the Senators (42-27-10) and Bruins (44-30-6) are tied for second, with the Toronto Maple Leafs (39-25-15) a point behind. The Lightning (39-30-10) and New York Islanders (38-29-12) are mathematically alive, with the Senators and Leafs yet to clinch.
Craig Anderson, playing in his 500th NHL game, shut out the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday to give the Senators three out of a possible four points in a home-and-home over two nights.
"It was a good win for us," Anderson said after his team snapped a five-game losing streak. "We were due. We were starting to play some good hockey and we weren't getting rewarded for it. I think tonight everything kind of turned for us a little bit, but it started a couple of games ago."
The Bruins went through the same thing a couple weeks back, dropping four in a row -- as fired coach Claude Julien was piling up the wins with the Montreal Canadiens. But Boston subsequently won six in a row, its longest winning streak since a 12-gamer in 2014.
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, called out by interim coach Bruce Cassidy for his play in a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay in Boston on March 23, responded with four of the wins, two of them shutouts, and yielded three goals in the four games.
Anton Khudobin, Rask's backup who struggled badly enough in the first half of the season to earn a trip to the minors, won the other two games, allowing only three goals.
It all resulted in the giant monkey being lifted off the back of this hockey team, which experienced final-week eliminations each of the last two seasons.
"It feels great," said Rask, who pitched his eighth shutout of the season and 38th of his career Tuesday. "The city deserves it. The organization deserves it and we feel like we deserve it too. Everybody can breathe a little bit easier now but we still have two games left before the real games start."
But Tuesday's win may well have been costly for the Bruins as Brad Marchand faces what would be his seventh suspension, this one for spearing Tampa Bay's Jake Dotchin in the groin in the first period. Marchand will have a phone hearing with the NHL on Thursday morning.
The Senators, who are battling injuries on their defense, won all three games against the Bruins this season, outscoring them 10-5. They won the last five against Boston.
Ottawa, coming off losing a home-and-home with the Montreal Canadiens, came into TD Garden and defeated the Bruins on March 21 to take a six-point lead over Boston in the standings. Things have changed since, and Thursday night they battle for second place in the Atlantic (and potential home-ice advantage in the playoffs on the line).
The Senators received a boost Tuesday when Clark MacArthur completed his long road back from concussion with his first NHL game since Oct. 14, 2015.
"Everyone is excited," he said. "Everyone has seen what has gone on in the past couple of years. It's just great to be back, to be back playing. I wanted to play and the hurdles to get over everything and our staff and the whole medical thing ... a delicate situation that you have to cross all the T's. I was very thankful for the organization to give me another chance again."
Anderson is 11-11-0 with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage lifetime against the Bruins. Rask is 8-7-3, 2.42, .919 against the Senators.
lets goooooooo hoping JFK can slot in but not hopeful! To you lucky humans going to the game, get LOOOOUUUUDDDDDDDDD for our boys!
